The winners of the African Writers Awards will be announced at the 2024 African Writers Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 22-27.
By Hope Ibiale
The organisers of the African Writers Awards have unveiled the shortlist for its 2024 edition. The three-in-one literary prize released the shortlist under the African Writers Awards for Poetry, the Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry, the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature, and the African Teen Writers Awards categories. The winners will be announced at the 2024 African Writers Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 22-27.
The judges for this year’s awards are Corona Cermak (Tanzania), Patricia Peace Ejang (Uganda), Tamunomieibi Enoch (Nigeria), Adedokun Ibrahim Anwar (Nigeria) for the African Teen Writers Awards (Poetry and Prose); Sabah Carrim (Mauritius), Patrick Nzabonimpa (Rwanda), and Verah Omwocha (Kenya) for the African Writers Awards (Short Stories); Nahida Esmail (Tanzania), Halieo Motanyane (Lesotho), and Namse Udosen (Nigeria) for the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature; and Funminiyi Akinrinade (Nigeria), Autricia Njang (Cameroon), Joy Rita (Kenya), Chipo Chama (Zambia), Patricia P. Ejang (Uganda), and Chidiebere Udeokechukwu (Nigeria) for the Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry,
The shortlisted writers include:
The African Writers Awards for Poetry 2024
- A Prayer to the Unknown, Azizah Bello (Nigeria)
- A Right to Peace, Cynthia Maduekwe (Nigeria)
- A Right to Peace, Saron Redietu (Ethiopia)
- A Right to Peace: The Desperate Wails of the Forgotten, Fatihah Ogbara (Nigeria)
- Craving, Emmanuel Koori (Nigeria)
- Does God Still Loves Me, Ebeneza Vuganzi (Kenya)
- If Peace Was, Joanne Glorie Godfrey (Tanzania)
- Right to Peace, Adrian Nyarko-Boateng (Ghana)
- Should Not All Have Peace, Waris Ntow (Ghana)
- The Gift Of Peace, Semira Ahmed (Ethiopia)
The Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry
- Alhamdulillahi, Azeez Odunjo (Nigeria)
- At Vlekete Market, Eniola Abdulroqueeb Arowolo (Nigeria)
- For Sale, African Drums Designed by Robots, Gabriel Awuah Mainoo (Ghana)
- Gods at the Descent of Spirit, Aderanti Adesoyin (Nigeria)
- Home by Michael Agunbiade (Nigeria)
- In A Cafeteria, A Cyborg Teaches Me Self-Love, Saheed Sunday (Nigeria)
- Let the World Pause a Little, Echezonachi-Maxwell Daniel (Nigeria)
- The Haunting, Adedolapo Grillo (Nigeria)
- These Poems I Write Now, Mk Kuol (South Sudan)
- Why Pumpkin Leaves are my Favourite Mboga, Immaculate Halla (Tanzania)
African Teen Writers Awards
Prose
- Five Things Mother Did Not Prepare Me For, Sumaiyah Muhammad (Nigeria)
- The Gentlest Revolution, Tobiloba Ibitoye (Nigeria)
- The Old Rag My Mother Squeezed, Fatima Zahara Abdulwahab (Nigeria)
- The Peace Keeper Journey, Francis Zenom Sati (Nigeria)
- Three Days Inside Loma Mountain, Hanafi Fathia (Nigeria)
- Your love unfurled the wrong way, Fortune Eleojo Simeon (Nigeria)
Poetry
- A Prayer to the Unknown, Azizah Bello (Nigeria)
- A Right to Peace, Cynthia Maduekwe (Nigeria)
- A Right to Peace, Saron Redietu (Ethiopia)
- A Right to Peace: The Desperate Wails of the Forgotten, Fatihah Ogbara (Nigeria)
- Craving, Emmanuel Koori (Nigeria)
- Does God Still Loves Me, Ebeneza Vuganzi (Kenya)
- If Peace Was, Joanne Glorie Godfrey (Tanzania)
- Right to Peace, Adrian Nyarko-Boateng (Ghana)
- Should Not All Have Peace, Waris Ntow (Ghana)
- The Gift Of Peace, Semira Ahmed (Ethiopia)
Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature 2023
- A Close Call – Honored, Absentia by Grace Thuo (Kenya)
- A Tale of 2 Guardians, Thandiwe Chibale (Zambia)
- Bee: One Another’s Keeper, Cynthia Anje Nkweti (Cameroon)
- Food Fights Not So Far Away, Thandeka Mpofu (Zimbabwe)
- Nandera the Brave, A Tale of Triumph by Laura Petite (Tanzania)
- Tapo the Duck, John Karanja (Kenya)
- The Acorn and the Oak, Samuel Admassu (Ethiopia)
- The Magical Forest Adventure, Amanuel Abebaw (Ethiopia)
- Who Stole the King’s Beard?, Rudo Mungoshi (Zimbabwe)
Established by the African Writers Development Trust, the African Writers Awards was created to celebrate the best-emerging writers in Africa. This year, the winners in each category will be awarded cash and other prizes.