Caine Prize

Caine Prize for African Writing
Awarded for	Best short story by an African writer in the English language
First awarded	2000
Official website	http://www.caineprize.com/

The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, and was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group plc. Because of the Caine Prize's connection to the Booker Prize, the award is sometimes called the "African Booker".

History

It was first awarded in 2000 to the Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela for her short story "The Museum", at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in Harare. In its first year the Prize attracted entries from 20 African countries.

The winner is announced at a dinner in Oxford in July, to which the shortlisted candidates are all invited. This is part of a week of activities for the candidates, including book readings, book signings and press opportunities.

Supporters

The Prize has been supported by friends of Sir Michael Caine in the UK, USA and Africa, the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, the Zochonis Foundation, the Marit & Hans Rausing Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Headley Trust, the Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust, the David Alliance Family Foundation, the Cairns Charitable Trust, the Botwinick-Wolfensohn Family Foundation, the Sunrise Foundation, the Von Clemm Charitable Trust, the Royal Over-Seas League, Sarova Hotels, Bata Shoes (Kenya) Ltd and (Zimbabwe) Ltd and Kenya Airways.

The Caine prize is supported by four African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature acting as patrons: Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz and J. M. Coetzee. Sir Michael's widow, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne is President of the council and Jonathan Taylor is the chairman.

Critical reception

In 2011, African writer Ikhide R. Ikheloa criticized the prize, suggesting that

"many writers are skewing their written perspectives to fit what they imagine will sell to the West and the judges of the Caine Prize.. The creation of a prize for "African writing" may have created the unintended effect of breeding writers willing to stereotype Africa for glory.. The mostly lazy, predictable stories that made the 2011 shortlist celebrate orthodoxy and mediocrity."^[1]

List of winners

Year	Author	Work	Country	Source(s)
2000	Leila Aboulela	The Museum	Sudan	[2][3]
2001	Helon Habila	Love Poems	Nigeria	[4][5]
2002	Binyavanga Wainaina	Discovering Home	Kenya	[6][7]
2003	Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor	Weight of Whispers	Kenya	[8][9]
2004	Brian Chikwava	Seventh Street Alchemy	Zimbabwe	[10][11]
2005	S. A. Afolabi	Monday Morning	Nigeria	[12][13]
2006	Mary Watson	Jungfrau	South Africa	[14][15]
2007	Monica Arac de Nyeko	Jambula Tree	Uganda	[16][17]
2008	Henrietta Rose-Innes	Poison	South Africa	[18][19]
2009	E. C. Osondu	Waiting	Nigeria	[20][21]
2010	Olufemi Terry	Stickfighting Days	Sierra Leone	[22][23]
2011	NoViolet Bulawayo	Hitting Budapest	Zimbabwe	[24]
2012	Babatunde Rotimi	Bombay’s Republic	Nigeria	[25][26]
2013	Tope Folarin	Miracle	Nigeria	[27]

Notes

1. ↑ Ikhide R. Ikheloa, The 2011 Caine Prize: How Not to Write About Africa, Next magazine, May 20, 2011.
2. ↑ "The Caine Prize". BBC. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
3. ↑ "Leila Aboulela". Contemporary Writers. British Council. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
4. ↑ Stephen Williams (1 September 2001). "Nigeria's Habila wins Caine prize". All Business. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
5. ↑ "Helon Habila". Contemporary Writers. British Council. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
6. ↑ Mwenda Micheni (3 May 2010). "Caine Prize sways African writing". The East African. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
7. ↑ Stephen Williams (1 September 2002). "Cain prize 2002: Top award goes to Kenya's Wainaina". All Business. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
8. ↑ "Weight of Whispers by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor". Kwani. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
9. ↑ Michelle Pauli (15 July 2003). "Kenya celebrates Caine prize double". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
10. ↑ "Writing Pains". African Writing Online. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
11. ↑ Michelle Pauli (20 July 2004). "Caine prize winner announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
12. ↑ Michelle Pauli (6 July 2005). "Afolabi wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
13. ↑ "Literary win for Nigerian writer". BBC. 5 July 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
14. ↑ Michelle Pauli (11 July 2006). "Mary Watson wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
15. ↑ "SA literary prize winner's joy". BBC. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
16. ↑ Michelle Pauli (10 July 2007). "Love story wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
17. ↑ "'Taboo' story takes African prize". BBC. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
18. ↑ Lindesay Irvine (8 July 2008). "Henrietta Rose-Innes wins £10,000 Caine prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
19. ↑ "South African wins top book prize". BBC. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
20. ↑ Alison Flood (7 July 2009). "EC Osondu takes £10,000 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
21. ↑ "Nigerian scoops African 'Booker'". BBC. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
22. ↑ "Olufemi Terry Wins the £10 000 Caine Prize for African Writing". BOOK Southern Africa. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
23. ↑ "Sierra Leone's Olufemi Terry wins Caine writing prize". BBC. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010. 
24. ↑ Alison Flood (12 July 2012). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2012. 
25. ↑ Ben (editor) (July 2, 2012). "Rotimi Babatunde Wins the 2012 Caine Prize for African Writing for “Bombay’s Republic”". Books Live. Retrieved July 3, 2012. 
26. ↑ Alison Flood (3 July 2012). "Rotimi Babatunde wins Caine prize for African writing". The Guardian. Retrieved July 3, 2012. 
27. ↑ Lekan (July 8, 2013). "Tope Folarin wins 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing". The Nation. Retrieved July 8, 2013. 

External links

• Official website