The AKO-Caine Prize for African Writing was established in the year 2000. Founded in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, the former chairman of Booker Group who cofounded the Man Booker Prize, the Caine Prize is awarded yearly to a short story by a writer from Africa or the African diaspora.
The 2022 judges were Nigerian author and award-winning journalist Okey Ndibe, who served as chair; French Guinean author Elisa Diallo; South African podcast host Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane; London-based Nigerian visual artist Àsìkò Okelarin; and Kenyan Book Bunk cofounder Angela Wachuka.
Yesterday, the judges announced the shortlist of authors selected from 349 entries from 27 African countries.
In a blog announcement, the chair of the judging panel Okey Ndibe says this year’s entries “represented a staggering feast. It was enchantment galore, a testament to the vibrancy, variety, and splendor of creative talent among writers of African descent.… It’s a credit to the judges’ dedication that we have a shortlist that runs the gamut stylistically and thematically.”
The five shortlisted authors are: Joshua Chizoma (Nigeria) for “Collector of Memories,” Nana-Ama Danquah (Ghana) for “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Hannah Giorgis (Ethiopia) for “A Double-Edged Inheritance,” Idza Luhumyo (Kenya) for “Five Years Next Sunday,” and Billie McTernan (Ghana) for “The Labadi Sunshine Bar.” Their stories are available to read here.
Each writer shortlisted for the prize will receive £500, while the winner, who will be announced at a ceremony in V&A Museum in London on July 18, gets £10,000.
The organisers say the ceremony coincides with the Africa Fashion exhibition. The 2022 AKO Caine Award ceremony is the final event in a UK tour for the shortlisted authors.
The shortlisted writers will be published in The AKO Caine Prize Anthology alongside stories written at the AKO Caine Prize Workshop, held this year in Ghana.
Joshua Chizoma’s works have been published or are forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Lolwe, AFREADA, Entropy Magazine, Anathema Magazine, Agbowo Magazine, and Prachya Review.
His story “Collector of Memories” was published in the 2021 Afritondo Anthology, “The Hope, The Prayer, The Anthem.” In 2018, Joshua won the Kreative Diadem Flash Fiction prize for his story “A House Called Joy.” He is an alumnus of the 2019 Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop taught by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. His short story “Their Boy” won the ACT award in 2020.
Congratulations to Joshua Chizoma and others on the shortlist.
