Sefi Atta has been named on the jury of the Caine Prize for African Writing 2019. Chaired by Peter Kimani, the panel also includes Margie Orford, Olufemi Terry and Scott Taylor. The prize made the announcement on December 19.
Awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English between 3,000 and 10,000 words long, it is perhaps African writingโs most prestigious short story award. Recent winners of the prize that has recognised names like Helon Habila, E. C. Osondu and Noviolet Bulawayo include Makena Onjerika (2018), Bushra al-Fadil (2017), Lidudumalingani Mqombothi (2016), Namwali Serpell (2015), Okwiri Oduor (2014) and Tope Folarin (2013).
Attaโs website says she was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964 and currently divides her time between the United States, England and Nigeria.
The writer, who was a juror for the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and has received several literary awards for her works, including the 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England, a Certified Public Accountant in the United States, and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
In 2015, a critical study of her novels and short stories, Writing Contemporary Nigeria: How Sefi Atta Illuminates African Culture and Tradition, was published by Cambria Press. Also a playwright, her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC and her stage plays have been performed and published internationally. She recently released childrenโs literature book titled Drama Queen (2018).
Kimaniโs 2017 novel Dance of the Jakaranda was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was nominated for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Awards 2018. Margie Orford is the acclaimed author hailed as the โqueen of South African crime-thriller writersโ. Olufemi Terry is Sierra Leone-born author and winner of the 2010 Caine Prize. Scott Taylor is a professor and director of the African Studies Program at Georgetown University, USA.
โWe are privileged to benefit from such an esteemed panel of judges and it is fitting that they will have the honour of deciding the winner of the 20th Caine Prize. I am sure Peter Kimani will make an excellent Chair, and I wish all the judges every success in deciding our shortlist in 2019,โ Chair of the Caine Prize, Dr. Delia Jarrett-Macauley, said of the panel.
The deadline for submissions for the 2019 edition is January 31, 2019 and the shortlist will be announced in May 2019, while the winner will be made public on July 8.