The shortlist for the Kendeka Prize for African Literature 2021 was announced on Wednesday, September 15, 2021.
Kendeka Prize for African Literature is an initiative by Andrew Maina, a Kenyan writer through Solano Publications Limited. It aims at encouraging Africans to write and read more.
The judging panel for 2021 is chaired by Lucas Wafula, a Kenyan, the Editor-in-chief, and CEO, Booklyst Press Limited. He is also a Director and Lead Facilitator at Global Editorial Centre-KE. Also on the panel is Edwige Renée Dro, a writer, a literary translator and a literary activist from Côte d’Ivoire. The third judge is Remy Ngamije, a Rwandan-born Namibian writer and photographer, the founder, and the administrator of Doek. He won the Africa Regional Prize of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2020 and 2021.
The longlist for the prize from entries from 23 African countries was announced on September 1 before the shortlist was revealed yesterday. Those on the shortlist are;
- Time And Bodies by Ekemini Udo Pius, Nigeria
- Au Pair by Okpanachi Irene Ojochegbe, Nigeria
- The Women of Atinga House by Fatima Okhousami, Nigeria
- The Painting From A Country In Europe by Azeeza Adeowu, Nigeria
- Water For Wine by Jenny Robson, Botswana
The top three winners, receiving Kshs 100,000, 50,000 and 25,000 respectively, will be announced during the award ceremony to be held on the 25th September, 2021. The ceremony will be hosted at Fourteen Falls Leisure Lodge, Thika, Kenya; For those who cannot make it to Thika you can follow proceedings live on Facebook or on YouTube.
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