Sabah Carrim’s short story Fading Mehndi was declared the winner of the Afritondo Short Story Prize 2024 on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Afritondo, a platform that aims to connect with and tell the stories of African and black minority populations across the globe, is the organisation behind the Afritondo Short Story Prize. Previous winners have been Alex Kadiri, Howard Meh-Buh Maximus, Jarred Thompson, and Desta Haile.
The 2024 prize is judged by their first three winners: Jarred Thompson, Desta Haile, and Howard Meh-Buh Maximus. From a pool of 400 stories, this panel announced the longlist on February 23 before they made the shortlist public on Friday, March 29.
The winner was announced at a virtual ceremony which featured all the writers reading from their shortlisted texts on Friday evening. The jury declared the winner to be Mauritian Sabah Carrim for her short story Fading Mehndi.
Jury member Jarred Thompson said: “The story bristles with the irony that describes how rituals are meant to influence fate and how, despite that, human idiosyncrasies always cause unexpected rifts—and the fantasies of these.”
Reacting to the announcement, Sabah said: “I was really surprised. I didn’t expect this, and I am honest in saying that. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I have read the other stories, and they are all exceptional. I am very proud to be part of this community and to see the panoply of stories coming out of all of us.”
She goes home with the US$1,000 prize money while other shortlisted writers get US$100.
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