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It was an absolute pleasure to attend The Caine Prize for African Writing readings, an interesting event where the shortlisted writers read from and discussed their work in the Southbank Centre.  Writers spoke on issues such as how difficult it is to break out on an international scale as an African writer, and whether African writing should indeed be kept in a box marked ‘Africa’. 

Olufemi Terry, was pronounced to have won the award the day after the readings.  His work Stick Fighting Days, was voted for by all the judges on the panel. When asked what he thought it meant to be an African writer, Olufemi, who has lived in various different parts of the globe including America, London, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, remarked: ‘I have no idea what it means’.

The shortlist comprised of Ken Barris and Alex Smith from South Africa, Lily Mabura from Kenya, Zambia’s first shortlisted author Namwali Serpell, and Olufemi Terry from South Africa. The collection ‘A life in Full and Other Stories’  contains writing by each of the shortlisted authors, as well as stories written at the Caine Prize Writers’ Workshop and is available now.

You can read Stick Fighting days by clicking here.

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