Zimbabwean writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga on the 2019 St. Francis College Literary Prize Shortlist, for her book “This Mournable Body.”
The St Francis College Literary Prize is a biennial award that recognises outstanding fiction. Previous winners of the $50,000 prize includes; Aleksandar Hemon (2009), Jonathan Dee (2011), David Vann (2013), Maud Casey (2015), and Dana Spiotta (2017). It was founded by Dr. Ian Maloney and Dr. Timothy Houlihan at the Brooklyn, USA based St Francis College in 2009.
This year’s prize is being judged by a three-person panel of its founder Dr. Ian Maloney, writer and publisher Chris Abani, and Kate Christensen. The six finalists selected from 184 entries are;
- Gun Love by Jennifer Clement (Mexican-American)
- This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
- Where The Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson (U.S.A.)
- The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt (U.S.A.)
- The Line That Held Us by David Joy (U.S.A.)
- New People by Danzy Senna (U.S.A.)
Speaking about the finalists, Dr. Ian Maloney said, “we had quite a number of worthy candidates in the submissions we received. I commend this excellent and engaged jury for selecting a diverse, innovative, and powerful group of finalists, who are all worthy of this recognition. I can’t wait to see who the jury finally decides upon because each one of these books packs a punch and is worthy of the award.”
“This Mournable Body” by Tsitsi Dangarembga is the third in the trilogy that began with her debut “Nervous Conditions” in 1988 followed by “The Book of Note” in 2006.
