The team organising The Short Story is Dead, Long Live the Short Story!, a short story competition open to all Africans, has announced its longlist today.
The Short Story is Dead, Long Live The Short Story! is a competition set up by South African based Black Letter Media which involves a short story call out and prize followed by an anthology. The first edition which came out in 2012 was edited by Duduzile Zamantungwa Mabaso and featured writers like Lauri Kubuitsile (Botswana), Chiaka Obasi (Nigeria), Tebogo Ndlovu (Zimbabwe), Emmanuel Ogukwe (Nigeria), Sitawa Namwalie (Kenya), and Obinna Udenwe (Nigeria). The second edition featured writers like Obinna Udenwe (first prize winner), Mapule Mohulatsi (joint second prize winner), and Christine Coates (joint second prize winner).
This year, the award organisers started the process of getting the third anthology on the road with a call out in April for stories from across the continent. To motivate people to sign up for the anthology there would be prizes worth R5000, R1500 and R500 to the winning story and the two runner up stories. This call out would be followed up with an announcement in May of the Judges of the competition who would be Kgauhelo Dube, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire and Sabata-mpho Mokae.
Those in the running for the prize have now emerged with a longlist of nineteen from across the African country from the over 100 stories from all over the continent that were sent in. It features a few names that readers of this blog may have heard of. The prominent these is Mary Ononokpono who won the Golden Baobab Prize 2014. She was also longlisted for the Short Story Day Africa Prize 2016 and shortlisted the Mile Morland Scholarship 2016.
The full longlist is;
- Natassia Garisch (South Africa)
- Louis Ogbere (Nigeria)
- Eliza Mabungu (South Africa)
- Henry Ohaegbulam (Nigeria)
- Carey Baraka (Kenya)
- Mandla Dlali (South Africa)
- Lerato Matshwane (South Africa)
- Mary Ononokpono (Nigeria)
- Mpho Mokone (Lesotho)
- Busisiwe Manana (South Africa)
- Hope Njoku (Nigeria)
- Tina Chiwashira (Zimbabwe)
- Stephanie Wanga (Kenya)
- Jenny Robson (Botswana)
- Mitchel Tumuhimbise (Uganda)
- Diketseng Motseke (South Africa)
- Osemegbe Aito (Nigeria)
- Mwikali Mutune (Kenya)
- Erhu Amreyan (Nigeria)
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