Water Anthology

Short Story Day Africa 2015 longlist announced

Short Story Day Africa has announced the longlist of this year’s anthology. The stories from writers from across the continent explored the theme “Water” in interesting and unexpected ways, and both the readers and the SSDA team and editors felt the collection to be exceptional in scope and skill.

The twenty-one stories will now be sent to the judging panel: Mary Watson, Billy Kahora, and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim.

The shortlist will be announced in October, with the winners announced at the Ake Festival in Nigeria in November. Prizes are sponsored by Worldreader, Books Live, ANT ProHelvetia and All About Writing.

The longlist is interesting in its composition. There is a list of the usual suspects where countries are concerned with a healthy showing from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. The name in the South African group that quickly jumps out for me is for Fred Khumalo who wrote Bitches Brew, one of the best books to come out of Mzansi in the last twenty years. With Nigeria, Mary Okon Ononokpono jumps out as she was the winner for the Early Chapter Books at the Golden Baobab Awards last year for Talulah the Time Traveler. In the Kenya group, I quickly note Wairimu Muriithi who was at the Writivism workshop in Dar es Salaam earlier in the year.

Away from the usual countries there have been entries from some of the others. Donald Molosi who wowed us with his play on Philly Lutaaya at Writivism from Botswana is in it. Also in there is Rwandan Dayo Ntwari who has been having a stellar year writing wise. He was a Writivism shortlistee and is currently in the running for the The Huza Press Short Story Award. Then there is Pede Hollist the Sierra Leonian who was shortlisted for the Caine Prize in 2013 and was at last years Caine Prize workshop in Ghana as well as last year’s in Zimbabwe. He is


also the guy who wrote So the Path Does Not Die.
Efemia Chela who insists on straddling two countries is there on the Ghana/Zambia ticket and was shortlisted for the Caine Prize last year is there too.

Here are the longlisted writers from across the continent

  • Alex Latimer (South Africa)
  • Donald Molosi (Botswana)
  • Wairimu Muriithi (Kenya)
  • Christine Coates (South Africa)
  • Mark Mngomezulu (Swaziland)
  • Cat Hellisen (South Africa)
  • Louis Ogbere (Nigeria)
  • Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia)
  • Louis Greenberg (South Africa)
  • Chido Muchemwa (Zimbabwe)
  • Wesley Macheso (Malawi)
  • Siyanda Mohutsiwa (Botswana)
  • Alexis Teyie (Kenya)
  • Mary Okon Ononokpono (Nigeria/UK)
  • Dayo Ntwari (Rwanda)
  • Thabo Jijana (South Africa)
  • Pede Hollist (Sierra Leone)
  • Fred Khumalo (South Africa)
  • Megan Ross (South Africa)
  • Florence Onyango (Kenya)
  • Mark Winkler (South Africa)

Comments

3 responses to “Short Story Day Africa 2015 longlist announced”

  1. […] Dayo Ntwari has been having a great year. The Rwandan writer with the Nigerian connection started his writing year with a shortlist on the Writivism Short Story prize. This was followed with a shortlist for the inaugural Huza Press Short Story Award the first in Rwanda. He is also on the longlist for Short Story Day Africa. […]

  2. […] a competition for Short Story Day Africa which called for stories with the theme, Water. When the longlist was released, however, my story didn’t make it. So it’s been sitting in my computer […]

  3. […] showed that he wasn’t just about the stage and cinema when his story was announced in the longlist for Short Story Day Africa earlier this […]

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