Short Story Day Africa Prize 2020

Short Story Day Africa Prize 2020 longlist announced.

The longlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize 2020 has been announced today, October 8, 2020.

Short Story Day Africa recognises short story writers across the continent while also helping to increase their skills sets with workshops. The Short Story Africa Day prize has been won by Adam El Shalakany (2018), Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor (2017), Sibongile Fisher (2016), Cat Hellisen (2015), Diane Awerbuck (2014), and Okwiri Oduor (2013).

The longlist for this year has been announced with our friends at Johannesburg Review of Books getting the exclusive on this story. This year’s theme is “Disruption” and the resulting anthology from the longlisted entries, Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, will be edited by Rachel Zadok, the founder of Short Story Day Africa and author of Sister-Sister and Gem Squash Tokoloshe.

Zadok said: ‘This year, as always, the first round of reading was blind. An experienced team of editors read with a keen eye for original writing that exhibited ingenuity and a strong voice. We couldn’t have foreseen the disruptions that Covid-19 would cause, from team members contracting the virus, to not being able to access funding, to key team members who volunteer their time no longer being able to dedicate the many hours it takes to put together a longlist due to no longer having secure incomes.”

The longlist for the award has the following writers;

  • A Defiant Departure, MacSmart Ojiludu – Nigeria
  • Another Zombie Story, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola – Nigeria
  • Armando’s Virtuous Crime, Najwa Bin Shatwan translated into English by Sawad Hussain – Libya
  • Before the Rains Came, Nadia Ahidjo-Iya – Cameroon
  • Before We Die Unwritten, Innocent Ilo – Nigeria
  • Between the Hard Earth and Dry Heaven, Melusi Nkomo – Zimbabwe
  • Dɔrə’s Song, Victor Forna – Sierra Leone
  • Enough, Nicholas Dawn – South Africa
  • The Fishtank Crab, Genna Gardini – South Africa
  • The Girl Named Uku/phaza/mi/se/ka, Philisiwe Twijnstra – South Africa
  • The Girl Who Always Laughed, Doreen Anyango – Uganda
  • Kin, Masiyaleti Mbewe – Zambia 13.
  • Laatlammer, Julia Louw – South Africa
  • Lycaon Pictus, Liam Brickhill – Zimbabwe
  • The Mother, Jacob M’hango – Zambia
  • Objects in the Mirror Are Stranger Than They Appear, Kevin Mogotsi – Botswana
  • Shelter, Mbozi Haimbe – Zambia
  • The Sound of Betrayal, Idza Luhumyo – Botswana
  • Static, Alithnayn Abdulkareem – Nigeria
  • Waiting to Die, Yefon Isabelle – Cameroon
  • When the Levees Break, Edwin Okolo – Nigeria

All these are in the running for the prize money of US$800 (about R13,500) for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place. The shortlist – first, second, and third place – will be announced in 2021.

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