Chair of Caine Prize Judging Panel

Chair of Caine Prize Judging Panel

English, Department of Wednesday April 17, 2024

I am thrilled to announce that I am going to be chair of judges for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing:

"This year's Chair of Judges is award-winning Nigerian author Chika Unigwe. Unigwe serves as a creative writing professor at Georgia College & State University. She is a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction, whose works have been translated into several languages. Her notable works include the award-winning novel "On Black Sisters' Street" and the short-story collection "Better Never Than Late." Her latest novel, "The Middle Daughter," is published by Canongate Books. In 2023, Unigwe was knighted into the Order of the Crown by the Belgian government in recognition of her contributions to literature."

The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, the £10,000 prize was named in memory of businessman and philanthropist Sir Michael Harris Caine,[1] former chairman of Booker Group and of the Booker Prize management committee.[2] The Caine Prize is sometimes called the "African Booker".[3] The Chair of the Board is Ellah Wakatama, appointed in 2019.[4]

The prize 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 Caine Prize attracted entries from 20 African countries.

The winner is announced at a dinner in July, formerly held in Oxford but most recently at SOAS, University of London,[6] to which the shortlisted candidates are all invited.

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