Shortlist – 2021 African Writers Awards (AWA) and the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature

A month ago, I announced the longlist on behalf of the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT), Writers Space Africa Foundation, and Writers Space Africa – Tanzania (WSA-Tz). Our panel of judges made up of Nahida Esmail (Tanzania), Gankhanani Moffat Moyo (Zambia), Sabah Carrim (Mauritius), Nabilah Usman (Nigeria), Comfort Nyati, SDB (Zimbabwe), Temani Nkalolang (Botswana), Halieo Motanyane (Lesotho) and Namse Udosen (Nigeria) have gone over the longlist and have selected six of the best entries per award category.

For this third edition of the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature, there will be three winners. The first-place winner will receive a certificate along with $150. The second place will receive $100 while the third place will receive $75. For the African Writers Awards, there will be only one winner per award category. Each winner will receive a certificate and $100.

We are pleased to present the shortlist in alphabetical order:

African Writers Awards

Creative Non-Fiction

1. Adetutu by Adedoyin Adetutu (Nigeria)
2. Cultural Partnership for a Common African Future by Saliha Haddad (Algeria)
3. Is This Legacy by Oluchi B. Kolanisi (South Africa)
4. Long Live the Comrade by Peter Zowa (Zimbabwe)
5. What Our Tales Entail by Jesse Bitrus Danjuma (Nigeria)
6. Whispers of the African Sun by Enoch Akinlabi (Nigeria)

Drama

1. A Country Called Africa by Dancan Ouma Obuya (Kenya)
2. Eating With Chopsticks by Gordon, B. Aywa Anjili (Kenya)
3. Fostered from a Thought by Irene Melissa Ojoro (Kenya)
4. Right in the Middle by Akinkunle Johnson (Nigeria)
5. The Twist by Bernard Diesuk Lucas (Nigeria)
6. Zige by Ebinabo Fortune Robert (Nigeria)

Poetry

1. All You See, All You Don’t See Poem by Joseph Olamide Babalola (Nigeria)
2. In the grave of the brave by Clara Wanjira Kariuki (Kenya)
3. Mother Africa is like a Highway in a Metropolitan City by Basethile Ngcubo (South Africa)
4. Not in the Tears of Yesteryear by Raphael Edookue Bariweremeloo (Nigeria)
5. The Dining Table by Overcomer Ibiaduradara Ibiteye (Nigeria)
6. The Doomed House by Jamin Clement Manyasa (Kenya)

Wakini Kuria Award for Children’s Literature

1. Akaa and the Mango Tree by Chipalo Salimu (Zambia)
2. Kodjo Braves a Hi by Temidayo Odutokun (Nigeria)
3. Tea time with Tito by Stephanie Chizoba Odili (Nigeria)
4. The Enchanted Pen by Nathaniel Z Mpofu (Zimbabwe)
5. The Millionaire Orphan by Makhago Peter (Uganda)
6. What Does it Mean to be Kind Anyway by Kendi Karimi (Kenya)

The winners will be announced on the 9^th of October during the 4^th African Writers Conference (AWC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The conference will be live-streamed on our social media pages and uploaded to our website.

The AWC is hosted this year in partnership with the Department of Literature in the University of Dar, Alliance Française of Dar Es Salaam, and African Tales. This is made possible thanks to the kind sponsorship of Feza Schools, Fintengo Schools, Our Son’s Bakery and Writers Space Africa.

The conference is supported by Ijemo Gallery, Africa in Dialogue, Brittle Paper, Southern Writers Bureau – SWB, Rosebud Editing & Proofreading, Self-Ish, Writers Guild Kenya (WGK), Kalulu Kreativez, The Roaring Writer, Colour Culture Arts, Authorship and Career Network, Nib Hub, SOTRANE Publishers, 23.35 Africa, the International African Writers Association (IAWA), and the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT).

Read the Longlist – 2021 African Writers Awards (AWA) and the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature