ZIMBABWEAN author Yvette Lisa Ndlovu has received an honourable mention for the 2024 Caine Prize for African writing.
The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language.
It was first awarded 24 years ago in 2000, where Leila Aboulela was announced the winner of the inaugural prize at a small gathering at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, followed a few days later by an official award ceremony and dinner in Zimbabwe.
In announcing those shortlisted, chair of judges Chika Unigwe said: “The shortlist and the honourable mention (Zimbabwe’s Yvette Ndlovu), span four countries and include writers at various stages of their promising careers. These stories, ranging from speculative to realistic, cover diverse subject matters, but share a common thread: they are compelling, universal human stories. They offer insights into our societies, governments, cultures and the broader world, ultimately posing the fundamental question that all great art asks: How do we navigate life?
They explore this question with empathy, thoughtfulness, humour and prose that is both sublime and accessible.
“So, how do we navigate life? In these stories, we do so with regrets, survival, performance, resistance and ultimately, living. Throughout, we strive to be seen. We are incredibly proud of this outstanding shortlist and our honourable mention. Congratulations to all the writers.”
The shortlisted writers for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing are: Tryphena Yeboah (Ghana) for ‘The Dishwashing Women’, Narrative Magazine (Fall 2022); Nadia Davids (South Africa) for ‘Bridling’, The Georgia Review (2023); Samuel Kolawole (Nigeria) for ‘Adjustment of Status’, New England Review, Vol 44, No 3 (Summer 2023); Uche Okonkwo (Nigeria) for ‘Animals’, ZYZZYVA (2024) and Pemi Aguda (Nigeria) for ‘Breastmilk’, One Story, Issue No 227 (2021).
The five shortlisted stories were selected from a pool of 320 entries originating from 28 African countries, which are South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Namibia, Morocco, Gambia, Senegal, Eritrea, Malawi, Liberia, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Libya, Algeria and Cameroon.
The judges whittled the number down to five for the £10 000 (US$12 807,26) award.
Ndlovu’s debut short story collection Drinking from Graveyard Wells (University Press of Kentucky) was selected for the 2021 UPK New Poetry & Prose Series and her novel manuscript-in-progress was selected by George RR Martin for the Worldbuilder Scholarship.
She earned her BA at Cornell University and her MFA at UMass Amherst.
Her work has been supported by fellowships from the Tin House Workshop, Bread Loaf Writers Workshop and the New York State Summer Writers Institute.
She is the Newhouse visiting assistant professor of creative writing at Wellesley College and has taught at UMass Amherst, Clarion West online and the Juniper Institute for Young Writers.
She is the co-founder of the Voodoonauts Summer Fellowship for Black SFF writers.
Her work has been anthologised in the World Fantasy award-winning anthology Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2021 and the NAACP-award nominated Africa Risen (Tor).
Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Columbia Journal, F&SF, Tor.com, Lightspeed, FANTASY Magazine, and Fiyah Literary Magazine for Black Speculative Fiction and is currently working on a new novel.
She teaches fiction and poetry courses on Short Narrative, Speculative Fiction, Afrofuturism, AfroSurrealism, Novels-in-Verse and more.
Professional interests include editing and African literature.
Unigwe added: “The judging process was both challenging and rewarding. We read over 200 eligible stories, uncovering many gems from both familiar and new writers. Our discussions were passionate and when we reached our (unofficial) long-list, we wished we could have included every story. Our consolation is knowing that these works are out in the world, being read, recognised with other prizes and receiving the attention they deserve.”
The winner will be announced on September 17 via a pre-recorded address.
There will be no immediate ceremony.
Instead, the shortlisted writers will be integrated into the Caine Prize’s 25th anniversary celebrations, participating in a “meet the writers” event and appearing alongside past winners and shortlisted writers in readings and discussions held at partner institutions.
Celebrations will include tribute events for writers such as Charles Mungoshi (Zimbabwe) and Binyavanga Wainana (Kenya), whom we have lost since they won or were shortlisted for the prize.
