Caine Prize for African Writing (2000-2009)

2009 -
Finalists for the £10,000 (US$15,453) Caine Prize for African Writing--which honors a short story by an African writer published in English--are:

"The Life of Worm" by Ken Barris (South Africa), from New Writing from Africa 2009
"How Shall We Kill the Bishop?" by Lily Mabura (Kenya), from Wasafiri No. 53, Spring 2008
"Muzungu" by Namwali Serpell (Zambia), from The Best American Short Stories 2009
"Soulmates" by Alex Smith (South Africa), from New Writing from Africa 2009
"Stickfighting Days" by Olufemi Terry (Sierra Leone), from Chimurenga, Vol. 12/13 -- Winner!

The winner will be named July 5 and given the opportunity to take up a month's residence at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., as a writer-in-residence.


About the Prize

The Caine Prize for African Writing is named in memory of the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker plc. He was Chairman of Africa 95, and Chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for almost 25 years. The Caine Prize is awarded to a work (a short story) by an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere.

The first prize was awarded in 2000, at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair 2000 in Harare, and the 2001 Prize at the Nairobi Book Fair in September 2001 The winner is announced at a dinner in Oxford in July.

2008 - South Africa’s Henrietta Rose-Innes has won the 2008 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for Poison from ‘Africa Pens’, published by Spearhead, an imprint of New Africa Books, Cape Town, 2007. The Chair of Judges, Southbank Centre Artistic Director Jude Kelly, announced Henrietta as the winner of the £10,000 prize at a dinner on Monday 7 July in the Bodleian Library in Oxford .

2007 - Uganda’s Monica Arac de Nyeko won the 2007 Caine Prize for African Writing, for Jambula Tree from ‘African Love Stories’,

Caine Prize 2006
Mary Watson from South Africa won the seventh Caine Prize for African Writing, Africa’s leading literary prize, for Jungfrau, from Moss, Kwela Books, 2004.

Caine Prize 2005
S.A. Afolabi from Nigeria won the sixth Caine Prize for African Writing for Monday Morning from Wasafiri, issue 41, spring 2004. His first collection of short stories, A Life Elsewhere, was published by Jonathan Cape earlier this year and his first novel is due to be published in April 2007."

Caine Prize 2004
Brian Chikwava, from Zimbabwe, won the fifth Caine Prize for African Writing for ‘Seventh Street Alchemy’ from Writing Still, Weaver Press, Harare 2003. Brian is the first winner of the Prize from Zimbabwe.

Brian has recently relocated to London and is working on his first projects outside Zimbabwe – Bubble Wrapping Artificial Shit, a novella that he has just started writing, and Jacaranda Skits, a music album of his unique and ‘whole-wheat’ sound that blends his writing abilities with southern African township jazz, ska and blues.

Caine Prize 2003
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor was awarded the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing, for her short story "Weight of Whispers", published in Kwani? in 2003 (www.kwani.org)



Caine Prize 2002

The Caine Prize 2002 was won by Binyavanga Wainaina, from Kenya, for his story "Discovering Home", published on the internet by G21Net in 2001.

Binyavanga has gone on to found the highly successful internet magazine "Kwani?" which was established to support the work of young Kenyan writers, and has produced some of the subsequent entries for the Caine Prize, including Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, winner of the 2003 prize.



Photo of Binyavanga Wainaina.

Caine Prize 2001

The winner of the 2001 Caine Prize for African Writing was the young Nigerian writer, Helon Habila, for his story "Love Poems" (taken from "Prison Stories", Epik Books, Lagos, 2000). Helon read literature at the University of Jos, and then lectured in English and Literature at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, from 1997 to 1999. He wrote for Hints Magazine, in Lagos, and his first book was a biography, Mai Kaltungo (1997). His poem, Another Age, came first in the MUSON Festival Poetry Competition 2000. Love Poems appears in Prison Stories (Epik Books, Lagos, 2000) an anthology of his short stories. He is now Arts Editor of Vanguard Newspaper, Lagos.

Caine Prize 2000

The Caine Prize 2000 was won by Leila Aboulela, for her story "The Museum" (from "Opening Spaces", Heinemann, Oxford, 1999). Leila is a Sudanese writer living in Indonesia.Following graduation from the University of Khartoum in 1985, Aboulela travelled to Britain to study Statistics at the London School of Economics and she was living in Aberdeen at the time of her prize win, with her husband and three children. Aboulela’s stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio and published in a number of anthologies, including ‘The Museum’ in Opening Spaces (Heinemann). She has also co-written a play for Radio 4 and her first novel, The Translator (Polygon) was long-listed for the Orange Prize 2000.