Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2024 shortlists announced

The Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2024 shortlists were announced in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, June 26, 2025.

The Safal Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature celebrates writing in poetry and prose in the Kiswahili language. It is supported by Safal Group, through its subsidiaries Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya and ALAF Tanzania, in partnership with Cornell University. Founded by Dr Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Dr Lizzy Attree, it has been conferred to Fatuma Salim and Philipo Oyaro (2023), Dotto Daudi Rangimoto and Salum Makamba (2022), Halfani Sudy, Moh’d Omar Juma, and Mbwana Kidato (2021), Lello Mmassy and Mohamed Songoro (2019), Zainab Alwi Baharoon and Jacob Ngumbau (2018), Ali Hilal Ali and Dotto Rangimoto (2017), Idrissa Haji Abdalla and Hussein Wamaywa and Ahmed Hussein Ahmed (2016), and Anna Samwel Manyanza and Mohammed K. Ghassani (2015). In 2020, the prize took a hiatus.

The 2024 jury is comprised of Dr Salma Hamad (Open University Tanzania), who chairs alongside Prof Richard Wafula (Kenyatta University) and Dr Caesar Jjingo (Makerere University). They received 210 manuscripts of poetry and prose, and the shortlist was revealed by Prof Richard Wafula on behalf of the jury at a media briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday. The shortlisted texts are;

Novels

• Nderemo za Mtaa, Joel Hamisi (Tanzania)
• Kitanzi cha Mauti, Mayassa Abdallah Chembea (Tanzania)
• Nyaraka za Wafu, Ali Othman Masoud (Tanzania)

Poetry

• Waadhi, Mohamed Hamid Haji (Tanzania)
• Bure Ghali, Bashiru Abdallah (Tanzania)
• Laana ya Uovu, Mohamed Idrisa (Tanzania)

The judges also selected a collection of short stories:

• Mungu Hadanganywi na Hadithi Nyingine, Edwin Omindo (Kenya)

Abdilatif Abdalla, Chairman of the Prize’s Board of Trustees, added, “It is very gratifying to see that since the competition began in 2015, the Prize continues to attract a large number of participants from various countries. The quality of the competing manuscripts also increases each year, thereby enriching Kiswahili literature.”

Albert Sigei, Managing Director of Mabati Rolling Mills said, “The Safal Kiswahili Prize reflects our deep belief in education as a powerful tool for transformation. It allows us to uplift not only voices and stories, but also a language that connects Africa’s past, present, and future. We are proud to be part of a platform that nurtures talent and celebrates African expression.”

The winners, who will receive a total of US$15,000 for the best unpublished manuscripts, will be announced at a gala in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on July 3, 2025. In addition to the cash prizes, the winning fiction manuscripts will be published by Mkuki na Nyota Publishers in Tanzania, while the poetry manuscripts will also be translated into English and published by the Africa Poetry Book Fund.