NEWS: Caine and Brunel Poetry Prize Shortlists Announced

The shortlist for this year's edition of the Caine Prize for African Writing is here! Wole Soyinka announced the shortlist at the ceremony marking Port Harcourt's tenure as World Book Capital. The shortlisted writers - all of whom will receive £500 in recognition of the Prize's fifteenth anniversary - are:

Diane Awerbuck (South Africa) for "Phosphorescence"
Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia) for "Chicken"
Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe) for "The Intervention" (read our review of Huchu's novel The Hairdresser of Harare here)
Billy Kahora (Kenya) for "The Gorilla's Apprentice"
Okwiri Oduor (Kenya) for "My Father's Head"

The shortlisted stories can be read on the Caine Prize's website. The Brunel University African Poetry Prize (which we posted about here) also announced its 2014 shortlist last month. Many congratulations to Viola Allo from Cameroon; Inua Ellams from Nigeria;? Amy Lukau from Angola; Nick Makoha from Uganda, Vuyelwa Maluleke from South Africa and Liyou Mesfin Libsekal from Ethiopia, who were shortlisted from a total of 579 entries. The winner will be announced on May 12. Check out this video of shortlisted Nigerian poet and playwright Inua Ellams performing "Leather Comets": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmHuNq2qJZw