Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s novel Consolée was named the winner of Prix Kourouma 2023 at Salon Du Livre Geneva, Switzerland on Friday, March 24, 2023. Ahmadou Kourouma was a legendary Ivorian novelist of many titles including Les Soleils des indépendances (1968), Le diseur de verité (1972), and the most famous Allah n’est pas oblige (2000) which […]
Percival Everett’s novel The Trees is on the shortlist of the Dublin International Literary Award 2023 announced on Monday, March 28, 2023. The Dublin International Literary Award is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English to promote excellence in world literature since. The prize worth €100,000 is sponsored by the […]
Margo Jefferson and Victoria Adukwei Bulley won in their categories at the Rathbones Folio Prize 2023 in London, UK on March 27, 2023. The Rathbones Folio Prize is a literary award currently sponsored by Rathbones Investment Management that first ran in 2014–2015. Previous winners have been George Saunders, Akhil Sharma, Hisham Matar, Richard Lloyd Parry, […]
Alara Adilow’s poetry collection Mythen en stoplichten was declared the winner of Herman de Coninckprijs 2023 on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Herman de Coninck was a Belgian poet, essayist, journalist, and publisher who lived from 1944 – 1997. In 2007, the Herman de Coninck Prijs (English: Prize), a Flemish literature prize for poetry for Belgian […]
Warsan Shire and Arinze Ifeakandu are on the shortlist for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2023 announced on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer who became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death at the age of 39. The International Dylan Thomas Prize […]
The finalists for the Lambda Awards 2023 were announced on Monday, March 20, 2023. Here are the writers of African descent who made the cut. The Lambda Literary Awards, or the “Lammys,” as they are known, are an award of Lambda Literary, the oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing Lesbian, Gay, Trans, and Queer […]
The winners of the Humanities and Social Sciences Awards 2022 were announced in a ceremony in Pretoria, South Africa on March 18, 2023. The Humanities and Social Sciences Awards are open to South African publishers, scholars based in South African universities and independent artists linked to universities. The awards honour ‘outstanding, innovative and socially responsive […]
Lire à Douala 2023 is set to be hosted in the Cameroonian city of Douala from March 26 – 30, 2023. The festival theme is “literature connects and repairs”. “Lire à Douala” (English: reading in Doula) is an association whose objective is to promote reading, written expression and the development of literary culture, in particular […]
Tsitsi Dangarembga received the Norwegian Authors’ Union Freedom of Expression Award 2023 in Oslo, Norway on March 18, 2023. The Norwegian Authors’ Union (Norwegian: Den norske Forfatterforening) is an association of Norwegian authors established to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors’ professional and economic interests in 1893. It also works in solidarity with persecuted […]
Maroko, the Decolonial Passage, Libretto Magazine, and the Johannesburg Review of Books are currently available for your reading pleasure. the Decolonial Passage Decolonial Passage, founded in 2020, features writers of all backgrounds engaged in the decolonial project, regardless of the writer’s race, origin, gender, disability, or geographical location. The second issue of the magazine features […]
Troy Onyango and Chiké Frankie Edozien are set to feature in a series of readings in Nairobi, Kenya from March 23 – 25, 2023. Chiké Frankie Edozien is a Nigerian-American writer and journalist who is currently the director of New York University, Accra. He came to the notice of the African literary community when he […]
We wrap up book news for our readers in our regular Book Digest segment with books from Leila Aboulela, Fanta Dramé, Rosanna Amaka, and Jarred Thompson. River Spirit by Leila Aboulela Publisher: Grove Press Date: March 7, 2023Genre: FictionWhere to find it: Grove Press. Leila Aboulela Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize […]
The longlist for the Island Prize 2023 was announced on Monday, March 20, 2023. The Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa is a prize from Holland House Books (UK), Karavan Press (SA) as well as Booker Prize longlistee Karen Jennings. It is aimed at giving writers from Africa (or the diaspora) a chance […]
The shortlists for the Isele Prizes 2023 were announced on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The Isele Prizes were founded to celebrate the best of short stories, poetry, and essays by writers published in the Ukamaka Olisakwe founded Isele Magazine in 2022. They are split into three categories of – short stories, poetry, and essays, and […]
The longlist for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature 2023 was announced in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. The OCM (One Caribbean Media) Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is an annual award for literary books by Caribbean writers, first handed out in 2011. Books are judged in three categories: poetry; fiction […]