The “African literature” category includes articles related to African fiction, poetry and drama. I fully acknowledge the fact that Africa is a large multicultural continent and that classifying all literature from the African continent under one heading does not do justice to this diversity. Yet, currently the number of African literary prizes and Africa related literary awards that I track is so small that dividing them into further subcategories would not serve a real purpose. This may change in the future as the range of literary prizes that I follow becomes wider.
To see all the latest literary awards news, see the front page of The Burnt Ones: Literary Awards News.
Early March Roundup
Date: March 11, 2007 | Discussion: No Comments
I am unfortunately extremely pressed on time these days, so this post will be somewhat unusual in that I am going to provide you with direct links to the latest winner and nominee lists. Hopefully, normality will return in April.
- Winterset shortlist has been announced
- Los Angeles Times awards nominations have been announced
- National Book Critics have announced their winners
- Independent foreign fiction prize has announced its nominations
- Wales Book of the Year long list has been announced
- First regional Commonwealth Prize winners have been announced
- British Book Awards have announced their shortlist
- Kenneth J. Harvey has won the Writers’ Trust Award for fiction
- Rehman Raahi has been awarded the Jnanpith Award
Filed under African literature, American literature, British literature, Canadian literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Poetry, Short stories, Shortlists, South American literature, Winners, World literature
2006 Prix Renaudot winner announced
Date: November 6, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The winner of the 2006 Prix Renaudot, one of France’s top literary prizes, has been announced. The prize was given to Alain Mabanckou for his novel Memoires de porc-epic (”Memoires of a Porcupine”).
Mémoires de porc-épic
by Alain Mabanckou
The novel is currently not available in English, but the French version can be ordered from Amazon.fr.
Filed under African literature, American literature, Fiction, French literature, Novels, Winners
Winner of the 2006 Caine Prize for African Writing announced
Date: July 11, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The 2006 Caine Prize has been awarded to South Africa’s Mary Watson for her short story ‘Jungfrau’.
The prize, first awarded in 2000, is given to an African writer who has published in Africa or elsewhere.
Filed under African literature, Short stories, Winners, World literature
The Boeke Prize 2006 shortlist announced
Date: July 7, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The nominees for the South African Boeke Prize, established in 1995 to award “finely written, absolute page-turners” and to light-heartedly dig at the more highbrow Man Booker Prize, have been announced.
The shortlist is composed of:
Disobedience by Naomi Alderman
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow
Q&A by Vikas Swarup
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The winner will be revealed on August 22, 2006.
Filed under African literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Shortlists
The South African 2006 Sunday Times Literary Award winners announced
Date: June 20, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The 2006 Sunday Times (South Africa) Literary Award in fiction has been given to Andrew Brown for his novel Coldsleep Lullaby. It is the author’s third novel.
This year’s shortlist consisted of:
- Coldsleep Lullaby by Andrew Brown, Zebra Press
- Garden of the Plagues by Russel Brownlee, Human & Rousseau
- Praying Mantis by Andre Brink, Secker & Warburg
- Slow Man by JM Coetzee, Secker & Warburg
- The Good Cemetery Guide by Consuelo Roland, Double Storey
The Sunday Times Fiction Prize is South Africa’s most financially lucrative English language award.
Filed under African literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Winners, World literature
Shortlist for the 2006 Caine Prize Announced
Date: May 24, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The shortlist for the 2006 Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced, and is composed of the following works:
Sefi Atta (Nigeria): “The Last Trip” (from Chimurenga 8, 2006)
Darrel Bristow-Bovey (South Africa): “A Joburg story” (from African Compass – New Writing from Southern Africa 2005, Spearhead, 2005)
Muthoni Garland (Kenya): “Tracking the Scent of My Mother” (from Seventh Street Alchemy: A Selection of Writings from the Caine Prize for African Writing 2004, Jacana Media, 2005)
Laila Lalami (Morocco): “The Fanatic, from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits” (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005)
Mary Watson (South Africa): “Jungfrau” (from Moss, Kwela Books, 2004)
The winner will be announced on 10 July 2006.
