John’s ‘Born on a Tuesday’ makes RCPSP long list

Nigeria’s Elnathan John made The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses long list of 16 for his debut novel, ‘Born on a Tuesday’.

 

One of the eight judges, Neil Griffiths, said this about John’s work: “Employing the oral cadences of much of African literature, this deceptively simple novel unfolds slowly and to devastating effect. From the opening scenes of chaos and murder to the quiet menace of the internecine manoeuvres of mosque politics to an Act 3 that I won’t spoil, this is the most involving and moving work of fiction about West African political and religious life I’ve read in a long time.”

Neil Griffiths is the author of ‘Betrayal in Naples’ (Authors’ Club First Novel Award) and ‘Saving Caravaggio’

(shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year 2007). He is the creator of the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses. His new novel,’ Family of Love’, will be published by Dodo Ink in 2017.

 

The prize is aimed at giving more attention to small presses publishing writers who are challenging what is possible in literature whilst still taking pains in sentence making.  

 

John was one of three finalists in the shortlist that produced the winner of the 2016 Nigerian prize for Literature, one of the riches in the world