Literary journey of 5 Nigerian Caine Prize winners

Some of these writers have stamped their presence on the literary scene after their win, while others may appear to have retreated, hopefully, to come out later with their pens blazing. Five Nigerians have so far won The Caine Prize for African Writing introduced over a decade ago. The first was Helon Habila in 2001, […]

Some of these writers have stamped their presence on the literary scene after their win, while others may appear to have retreated, hopefully, to come out later with their pens blazing.

Five Nigerians have so far won The Caine Prize for African Writing introduced over a decade ago. The first was Helon Habila in 2001, followed by S.A. Afolabi in 2005, E.C. Osondu 2009, Tope Folarin 2013, and the most recent, Tope Folarin in 2013.  
Namwali Serpell became the winner of this year’s Prize for her short story ‘The Sack’ and in a spirited move decided to share her £10, 000 prize money with the shortlisted finalists, who included Elnathan John (Nigeria), F.T. Kola (South Africa) and Masande Ntshanga (South Africa). 
The Caine Prize for African Writing was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000 and named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former chairman of Booker Group, UK’s largest food wholesale operator. The winner always goes home with a £10, 000 prize money. Since inception, the prize has attracted 16 winners who have continued to chart a course in world literature.
Helon Habila 
In 2001, he became the second recipient of the prize with his short story, ‘Love Poems,’ set in 1997, towards the end of the late General Sani Abacha’s regime when the country was plagued by increasing violence and political detentions. It centres on the fear and smell of life in prison and this got the attention of the judges. How he got to the pinnacle of the competition is intriguing: The prize is known to be strictly for published works and usually sent by publishers for the competition, so Habila posed as his own publisher and submitted a chapter from a novel he self-published titled ‘Waiting for an Angel.’
Today Habila is a renowned writer and the author of several remarkable books, including ‘Oil on Water.’ This year he was selected as one of the prize winners for the 2015 Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for fiction valued at $150, 000. The prize was established by Donald Windham and Sandy M. Campbell with the aim of upholding literary achievement and encouraging writers to focus more on their work and less on financial gratification.
Segun Afolabi
In 2005, Segun Afolabi, formerly known as S. A. Afolabi, became the winner for his short story ‘Monday Morning’ from Wasafiri. He later confessed he knew nothing about The Caine Prize until he was shortlisted and had to find out how from publishers of his stories and also from his agent. In an interview with The Guardian of London, this writer talked about how surprised he was after he was declared winner because he already had selected those he thought may win and so already prepared to relax and enjoy the whole event.
Afolabi also featured in the shortlist for his short story ‘The Folded Leaf,’ in this year’s contest. Back then when he won the prize he was yet to publish a book, but has since released a novel titled, ‘Goodbye Lucille’ that won the Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a collection of short stories, ‘A Life Elsewhere,’ which was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.   

E. C. Osondu
This author won the prize in 2009 for his short story, ‘Waiting,’ which depicts the life of some children in a refugee camp with touching stories. Known for his short stories, Osondu wrote ‘A Letter from Home’ and an anthology of short stories, ‘Voice of America,’ and until 2015 released his first novel, ‘This House is Not for Sale,’ a remarkable narrative that runs like a series of folktales. He once said in an interview with the online magazine, Voices of Nigeria that he chose the short story form because it was the most natural for him, being that he grew up with stories around.     
Babatunde Rotimi
The 2012 prize went to Rotimi for his ‘Bombay’s Republic,’ a short story about a soldier who returns from the second world war with a fresh perspective about life. This writer was named in the Hay Festival’s Africa39 project as one of the 39 sub-Saharan African writers under the age of 40 with the potential and talent to define trends of the region. He is presently working on a novel and his short story, ‘The Collected Tricks of Houdini’ is currently long-listed for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the richest prize in the world for a single short story. 
Tope Folarin
He is the last Nigerian so far to have won the prestigious prize for his short story, ‘Miracle’ in 2013, a contest that had four Nigerians out of five on the shortlist. The story is set in an African-American church and explored the subject of healing in a society prone to deceit. Like Rotimi, Folarin was named in Hay Festival’s 2014 Africa29 project. Based in the United States, he is on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and makes a living as a speechwriter for the White House. The story ‘Miracle’ was taken from his novel-in-progress which is yet to be released till date.