Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift and Tope Folarin’s A Particular Kind of Black Man are on the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize 2019 longlist announced on July 24, 2019.
The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize is an annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York, USA. It is given to the best debut novel published between January 1 and December 31 of the award year. The prize-winning author receives $10,000 while each finalist receives $1,000. Previous winners of the prize include Junot Diaz, Margaret Wrinkle, and Marisha Pessi. No African has won it yet with Akwaeke Emezi and Nafkote Tamirat coming closest making the longlist last year.
The longlist for the 2019 edition this year features Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift, published on March 26, a multigenerational tale from Zambia and Tope Folarin’s A Particular Kind of Black Man set in the USA which makes an appearance on August 6. Interestingly, both writers won the Caine Prize for African writing, Serpell in 2015 and Folarin in 2013, before they became novelists.
The 2019 Short List will be announced in September and the winner will be announced in December at The Center for Fiction’s Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner.
Thank you to Moraa Gitaa for giving me a lead to this story.
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