Veronique Tadjo to chair Orange Book Prize in Africa 2018 jury.

Veronique Tadjo is the chair of the Orange Book Prize in Africa jury announced on January 22, 2019. The other judges are Valérie Marin La Meslée, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Wilfried N’Sondé, Michèle Rakotoson, Kouam Tawa, Elizabeth Tchoungui, and Fawzia Zouari.

In November 2018, a new literary prize aimed at French- speaking Africa called the Orange Book Award was launched. This prize was for fiction written in French by an African writer and published by a publishing house based on the African continent.

The Orange Book Prize in Africa has announced that there are 59 titles are in the running, proposed by 39 publishing houses based in 16 African countries. The countries are Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia.

From these 59 texts, five committees will read and select the books submitted to the jury at the end of February. They will be read by readers based in 5 different countries from the following organisations:

• The Association of Poets and Writers of Cameroon (Cameroon)
• The “Abidjan Lit” Collective (Ivory Coast)
• The Union of Poets and Writers of Madagascar (Madagascar)
• The Racines Association (Morocco)
• The Writers’ Association of Senegal (Senegal)

The jury that will ultimately choose the shortlist of six will be;

• Veronique Tadjo
• Yvan Amar.
• Valérie Marin La Meslée.
• Mohamed Mbougar Sarr.
• Wilfried N’Sondé.
• Michèle Rakotoson.
• Kouam Tawa.
• Elizabeth Tchoungui.
• Fawzia Zouari.

This jury will select a short list of six books with all six writers being invited to the Pavilion des Lettres d’Afrique at the Paris Book Fair in March. The winner will then be announced at a ceremony at a yet to be announced capital on the continent. That individual will go home with €10,000 and a book tour.