The Caine Prize for African Writing (often referred to as the African Booker) is one of the most prestigious prize on the continent. It honours exceptional published short stories written by writers of African descent.
Debuted in the year 2000, the Caine Prize awards the winner £10,000 and £500 to the five shortlisted writers plus travel award. Since its debut 19 years ago, the prize has been awarded six times to Nigerian writers.
We have compiled a list of the six Nigerian writers and a brief rundown on their work.
1. Lesley Nneka Arimah for “Skinned”
Lesley Nneka Arimah won the 2019 Caine Prize, for her short story “Skinned,” published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern (Issue 53) 2018. “Skinned,” follows the story of an imaginary society, where unmarried young girls are uncovered (go about naked once they reach a certain age) and the married ones are covered. The rigidity of such a dystopian society is broken, with the likes of Odinaka (a rich lady who had inherited a clothing industry) rebelling against societal norms, not without a gang of like minds behind her. “Skinned,” is a subtle call for gender equality.
2. Tope Folarin for “Miracle”
Tope Folarin won the 2013 Caine Prize, for his short story “Miracle,” from Transition, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012). “Skinned,” tells the story of a blind Pastor in a Pentecostal Church in Texas, who despite his blindness performs miracles. The drama begins when a young man, is singled out of the congregation to be healed of asthma and bad sight.
3. Rotimi Babatunde for “Bombay’s Republic”
Rotimi Babatunde won the 2012 Caine Prize, for his short story “Bombay’s Republic,” from ‘Mirabilia Review’ Vol. 3.9 (Lagos, 2011). Babatunde uses humour to expose the evils of colonialism and the irony of our supposed independence.
4. E.C. Osondu for “Waiting”
E.C. Osondu won the 2009 Caine Prize, for his short story “Waiting” from Guernicamag.com. “Waiting” narrated by a child, follows the story of refugees in a camp whose lives is stalled by a senseless war and, have become charity cases who must survive on the kindnesses of NGOs and some compassionate western families.
5. Segun Afolabi for “Monday Morning”
Segun Afolabi won the 2005 Caine Prize, for his short story “Monday Morning” from Wasafiri, published in 2004. “Monday Morning,” follows the story of a family of asylum seekers marooned in a refugee hostel in London. He was shortlisted again in 2015 for his story “The Folded Leaf”.
6. Helon Habila for “Love Poems”
Helon Habila won the 2001 Caine Prize, making him the second person after Sudan’s Leila Aboulela to have won the prize. Set towards the end of the horrendous Abacha regime in Nigeria, “Love Poems,” tells the story of life in prison. Habila writes about the smell of prison and even more about his love for a woman. His debut novel “Waiting for an Angel,” was published after he won the Caine Prize.
