Igoni Barrett to judge Graywolf Press Africa Prize for novel manuscripts

Graywold Press, publishers of Nigerian author Igoni Barret’s Love is Power or Something Like That have announced a new writing prize for debut novel manuscripts. The Graywolf Press Africa Prize for “a first novel manuscript by an African author primarily residing in Africa,” has a $12,000 reward in prize money and a publishing deal for […]

Graywold Press, publishers of Nigerian author Igoni Barret’s Love is Power or Something Like That have announced a new writing prize for debut novel manuscripts.

The Graywolf Press Africa Prize for “a first novel manuscript by an African author primarily residing in Africa,” has a $12,000 reward in prize money and a publishing deal for the lucky winner.

The prize money is considered advance on royalties, according to the publishers along with a commitment to distribute the published book in all major markets in Africa. 

The inaugural prize will be judged by A. Igoni Barrett, author of the novel Blackass, among other titles. He is a recipient of the Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency.

Founded in 1974 and located in Minneapolis, USA, the award-winning Graywolf Press is “committed to the discovery and energetic publication of contemporary American and international literature.” Books by their African authors include both books by Igoni Barrett, Anouar Benmalek’s The Lovers of Algeria (2004), Nuruddin Farah’s Sweet and Sour Milk (2006), Binyavanga Wainaina’s One Day I Will Write About This Place (2012), and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body (forthcoming 2018).

“Graywolf Press is always looking for work that is distinctive, artistically singular, and of a high literary quality. For this prize, we are seeking novels that are engaged with the current moment-stories that could only be told in our time. We are excited by the wealth of talented and imaginative writers coming from a wide range of African countries and look forward to encountering authors who approach contemporary issues with innovative prose and fresh perspectives,” the publishers said.