2019 Writivism Prizes Shortlists Announced

The shortlists for the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize and The Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction have been announced, and they include 5 of Africa’s budding literary talents. Each of the shortlists is made up of 3 stories with one writer featuring on both, which is a true mark of their excellence as a writer considering both Prizes had different judges.

The 2019 Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction judging panel is chaired by Ayesha Haruna Attah and the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize judging panel is chaired by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. Find out what they said about the stories here. The Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction is funded by the Koffi Addo family/MAKEDA in Ghana.

The shortlisted stories for the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize are;

1. Ghana Boy by Frances Ogamba (Nigeria)

Frances Ogamba’s stories appear in Afridiaspora and Writivism digital mini anthology, Dwartonline and Ynaija websites, and on Enkare Review. She is a workshop alumnus of Writivism 2016, Ake fiction 2016, and Winter Tangerine 2016. She lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

2. Tale by Vuyelwa Maluleke (South Africa)

Vuyelwa Maluleke is a Performance Poet, Scriptwriter and Actor, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witwatersrand. She was shortlisted for the Brunel University African Poetry Prize in 2014, and is the author of the chapbook “THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE”. A slam champion of the Word and Sound 2015 Poetry league competition with an essay in the recent publication of Selves: An Afro Anthology of creative non-fiction 2018. She is currently a Masters in Creative Writing candidate at the University previously known as Rhodes.

3. Maserumo by Resoketswe Manenzhe (South Africa)

ResoketsweManenzhe is a PhD candidate with the chemical engineering department at the University of Cape Town. Starting in 2015, her poems and short stories have appeared in several online magazines and journals, and in 2017, two of her poems were shortlisted for the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Anthology, and subsequently published in the anthology of selected poems. She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa,

* Notable Mention: There is Goodness Waiting at Home by Temitope Owolabi (Nigeria)

The shortlisted stories for the 2019 Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction are;

1. How to Wear Your Body by Eugene Yakubu (Nigeria)

Eugene Yakubu is a storyteller and cultural critic who lives and writes from Nigeria. He writes essays and non-fiction on non-normative identities, fluid gender roles and human rights. He is running a graduate research on Queer Studies and LGBTI narratives in African literature at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His nonfiction This Hell of a Body has been shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award 2019.

2. The Valley of Memories by Frances Ogamba (Nigeria)

Frances Ogamba’s stories appear in Afridiaspora and Writivism digital mini anthology, Dwartonline and Ynaija websites, and on Enkare Review. She is a workshop alumnus of Writivism 2016, Ake fiction 2016, and Winter Tangerine 2016. She lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

3. The Comedian by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola (Nigeria)

Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. His work interrogates anxiety, broken lineage, [in]sanity, grief and the black body as a warfront – you know, typical stuff happy people write about. His debut collection of nightmares, In My Country, We’re All Crossdressers was published as a chapbook by Praxis. He is the founder of the SPRINNG Literary Movement.

Drs. Christopher Ouma and Karen Jennings joined Ayesha Haruna Attah on the 2019 Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction judging panel. Emmanuel Sigauke and Kinna Likkimani joined Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi on the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize judging panel.

All shortlisted writers will receive $150 and travel to Kampala for the Writivism festival happening 15-18 August, 2019 at The National Theatre, where the winners will be announced. The two winners of the Writivism Short Story Prize and the Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction will each receive $500 as well as a chance to work on their manuscript in a one-month residency at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The long listed stories will be published in the 2019 Writivism anthology.

ENDS

Notes on the Prizes

The Writivism Short Story Prize is awarded annually since 2013 for brilliant short fiction by emerging writers living on the African continent. The Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction is awarded annually since 2016 for outstanding nonfiction by emerging writers living on the African continent.

Previous winners of the Writivism Short Story Prize are Uganda’s Anthea Paelo (2013), South African Saaleha Bamjee (2014), Nigerian Pemi’ Aguda (2015), Ugandan Acan Innocent Immaculate (2016), Nigerian Munachim Amah (2017) and Kenya’s Mbogo Ireri (2018).

Previous winners of the Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction are Ghana’s Yvette Tetteh (2016), South African Charles King (2017) and Zambia’s Chisanga Mukuka (2018).

The six shortlisted stories are from long lists of 12 stories for the Writivism Short Story Prize and 8 stories for the Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Nonfiction. All long listed stories are published in our annual anthologies. Previous anthologies include; Picture Frames (2013), Fire in the Night (2014), Roses for Betty (2015), Sundown (2016), And Morning Will Come (2017, forthcoming), Intersections (2018, forthcoming).

The Writivism Literary Initiative is a program of the Centre for African Cultural Excellence.

For more information
info@writivism.com
+256785210223

Writivism

Promoting African Literature since 2012