SA PEN Studzinski Award

I've just seen Guardian Prize winning author Petina Gappah's blog post notifying that the call for entries has gone out for the 2011 PEN Studzinski Award for short fiction. The award, originally for writers from the 15 SADC countries, was opened to all of Africa for the 2009 edition, eventually won by Karen Jayes.

As Gappah attests, the 2007 award started her on the road to something significant. Her second placed story, selected by J.M. Coetzee (At The Sound of the Last Post) opens her highly successful debut collection, An Elegy For Easterly, having been previously published in Prospect. The 2007 winning story by Henrietta Rose-Innes (Poison) went on to scoop the Caine Prize in 2008. So there is no denying the power of this award.

Oddly enough and in a major about-turn, the SA PEN Studzinski Award reverts to "appealing only to writers living in the fifteen countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC*)." No more All-Africa inclusivity then. Just one All-Africa trial convinced them to narrow it back down to SADC only, it appears.

As I wrote in the comment box for Gappah's blog, "I wish the Studzinski Award would make its bloody mind up."

SB on Caine Prize 2008

Many thanks to SB who sent me the following about this year's Caine Prize.
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Caine Prize 2008 Winner

This year's Caine Prize has been won by Henrietta Rose-Innes from South Africa, with her story ‘Poison’ from ‘Africa Pens,’ published by Spearhead, an imprint of New Africa Books, Cape Town, 2007.

The winner of the £10,000 prize was announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford on Monday, 7 July.

The short story by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, ‘Cemetery of Life’ which was first published in issue 52, autumn 2007 of Wasafiri was on the shortlist for the Caine Prize.

The Caine Prize is awarded to a short story published in English by an African writer whose work has reflected African sensibilities. With over 90 entries coming in from 17 African countries, the writers on the shortlist were:

Mohammed Naseehu Ali (Ghana) ‘Mallam Sile’, from ‘The Prophet of Zongo’, published by Amistad, an imprint of Harper Collins, NY, 2005
Stanley Onjezani Kenani (Malawi) ‘For Honour’ from ‘African Pens’, published by Spearhead, an imprint of New Africa Books, Cape Town, 2007
Gill Schierhout ( South Africa ) ‘The Day of the Surgical Colloquium’ from ‘African Pens’, published by Spearhead, an imprint of New Africa Books, Cape Town , 2007
Uzor Maxim Uzoatu ( Nigeria ) ‘Cemetery of Life’ from ‘Wasafiri’ No52 Autumn 2007

This year’s panel of judges was chaired by the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, Jude Kelly OBE, who is responsible for creating a unified artistic vision for the whole 21 acre site. An experienced director of over 100 productions, she was awarded an OBE for services to the theatre in 1997 and is Chair of Culture, Ceremonies and Education at the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Joining her on the panel were Jamaican poet and professor of English, Mark McMorris, Hisham Matar, the Libyan author of the internationally successful first novel, In the Country of Men, Eritrean-born Hannah Pool, a Guardian journalist, and the previous 2007 judge, South African poet, novelist and lecturer Jonty Driver.

For further information please visit the Caine Prize website.

• Words by SB; image by MW

New Reads - Caine Special

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One of the niggly things about the Caine Prize season at times is that shortlisted stories aren't always widely available. So you'll be at a reading by the writers who read excerpts and engage in discussions around stories which half the audience havent read, which must be somewhat frustrating for both writers and readers alike. Especially when the story in question is not available online. Not so this year.

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Thanks to New Internationalist, publishers of the Caine anthologies, you can read of all 5 stories online (downloadable in pdf format).

One of these stories will win the Caine Prize tonight...

• Read Mallam Sile by Mohammed Naseehu-Ali (Ghana).
• Read For Honour by Stanley Onjezani Kenani (Malawi).
• Read Poison by Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa).
• Read The Day of the Surgical Colloquium by Gill Schierhout (South Africa).
• Read Cemetery of Life by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu (Nigeria).