Beyonce may have had the literary world in mind when she sang “Girls” ’cause who runs the literary world?
The literary world seems to be revolving around women with lots of works to boast of.
Literary works by women writers, have been either been longlisted or shortlisted, but a number of them have gone ahead to win these competitive awards.
We have put together five awards, all won by women writers.
Man Booker Prize
UK’s most prestigious prize for fiction, the Man Booker Prize (2019), was won by two women writers; Bernadine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood. The decision to split the prize for the first time since inception, which is in fact against the rules of the prize, has been however criticized. Nonetheless, Bernadine Evaristo makes history as the first Black woman to have won the prize, for her book, “Girl, Woman, Other.”
Caine Prize for African Prize Writing
The Caine Prize for African Writing, is one of Africa’s most prestigious prizes. Often referred to as the African Booker, the highly competitive prize was won this year by, Lesley Nneka Arimah, for her story, “Skinned.”
Commonwealth Short Story Prize
The most universal literary prize, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, saw Cypriot writer, Constantia Soteriou emerge as the 2019 overall winner, for her story; “Death Customs,” translated by Nina Protopapa.
Arablit Story Prize
Arablit Story Prize, is a literary prize that awards the best unpublished short stories, newly translated from Arabic to English. This year’s prize was awarded to Libyan writer, Najwa Bin Shatwan and Sawad Hussain (translator) for; “The Sharp Bend At Al Bakur.”
Sunday Times Literary Awards (The Barry Ronge Fiction Prize)
Considered as South Africa’s literary prize, the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards (The Barry Ronge Fiction Prize Category), was bagged by Siphiwe Ndlovu for her debut novel; “The Theory of Flight.”
By: Emeka Nwakobi