South African wins 2016 Caine Prize

A South African, Lidudumalingani, has won The Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story, ‘Memories We Lost.’ This was announced at a dinner at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Aside a £10, 000 prize, Lidudumalingani will be taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Centre […]

A South African, Lidudumalingani, has won The Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story, ‘Memories We Lost.’
This was announced at a dinner at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Aside a £10, 000 prize, Lidudumalingani will be taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Centre for Poetics and Social Practice. He will also be invited to speak at the Library of Congress and receive invitations to take part in Cape Town’s Open Book Festival, Nigeria’s Ake Festival, and Nairobi’s Storymoja.
“The winning story explores a difficult subject – how traditional beliefs in a rural community are used to tackle schizophrenia,” said the prize chair, Jarrett-Macauley. “This is a troubling piece, depicting the great love between two young siblings in a beautifully drawn Eastern Cape. Multi-layered, and gracefully narrated, this short story leaves the reader full of sympathy and wonder at the plight of its protagonists.”
This year, the Caine Prize received a record-breaking number of entries. 166 short stories from writers in 23 African countries. Last year 153 qualifying stories were submitted to the judges from 17 countries.
The Caine Prize is awarded annually to an African writer of a short story published in English. This year’s panel of judges consisted of Delia Jarrett-Macauley, Adjoa Andoh, Muthoni Garland, Robert J. Patterson and Mary Watson. Five writers made the 2016 shortlist: Abdul Adan (Somalia/Kenya), Lesley Nneka Arimah and Tope Folarin (Nigeria) and Bongani Kona (Zimbabwe) and of course Lidudumalingani.
Lidudumalingani is a writer, filmmaker and photographer.