Nadia Davids was revealed to be the Caine Prize for African Writing 2024 winner today, Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
The Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded annually to an African writer published in English for an outstanding short story since 2000. It has recognised some of the most famous writers working today like Leila Aboulela, Helon Habila, Yvonne Adhiambo Owour, and many more. In recent times, winners have been Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo (2023), Idza Luhumyo (2022), Meron Hadero (2021), Irenosen Okojie (2020), Lesley Nneka Arimah (2019), Makena Onjerika (2018), Bushra al-Fadil (2017), and Lidudumalingani Mqombothi (2016).
The jury for 2024 is chaired by award-winning writer and academic Chika Unigwe alongside Zimbabwean writer, scholar, and filmmaker Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Sierra Leonean poet, artist, and filmmaker Julianknxx, South African Hip-Hop artist Tumi Molekane, and award-winning writer Ayesha Harruna Attah.
This year’s 320 submissions encompassed a diverse range of talent from 28 different countries including 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 shortlist of five was announced on July 31.
The winner of the £ 10,000 cash prize is Bridling, Nadia Davids (South Africa) which was published in The Georgia Review (2023). Runners-up Tryphena Yeboah, Samuel Kolawole, Uche Okonkwo, and Pemi Aguda will receive a prize of £500 and feature in the 2024 Caine Prize Anthology. The 2024 anthology will also include stories from this year’s workshop held in Salima, Malawi.
Jury chair Chika Unigwe said: “Bridling is an impressive achievement, a triumph of language, storytelling, and risk-taking while maintaining a tightly controlled narrative about women who rebel. It embodies the spirit of the Caine Prize, which is to celebrate the richness and diversity of short stories by African writers. That is to say, to challenge the single story of African literature.”
Ellah Wakatama, Chair of The Caine Prize Board of Trustees, said “I was delighted by the range and ambition of this year’s shortlisted stories. It is especially pleasing to see writers many will recognise and to introduce new voices. As we enter into our 25th year, it’s wonderful to have such a strong shortlist and formidable Nadia Davis as our winner.”
Nadia Davids is a South African writer, theatre-maker, and scholar. Her plays (At Her Feet, What Remains, Hold Still) have been staged throughout Southern Africa and in Europe. Her debut novel An Imperfect Blessing was shortlisted for Pan-African Etisalat Prize for Literature. Nadia’s short fiction and essays have appeared in The American Scholar, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Astra Magazine, The Georgia Review, the Johannesburg Review of Books, and Zyzzyva Magazine. She’s held residencies at Hedgebrook, Art Omi, and The Women’s Project, and was a 2023 Aspen Words Writer. Nadia has taught at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cape Town and is the President Emeritus of PEN South Africa.
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