The Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize 2019 longlist, featuring Aminatta Forna, Emmanuel Iduma, and Jamal Mahjoub, was announced on March 27, 2019. The Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize is an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, best evoking the spirit of a place. The prize sponsored […]
The Syncity NG Anniversary Anthology and Prize longlist was announced on March 27, 2019. Syncity NG, founded by Mystique Syn Osuchukwu, is a platform that showcases the best of African literature to the world. It started off as a regular multi-topic blog, but embraced literature as a niche in February 2018; they would go on […]
Ten poets from across Africa feature on the Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2019 shortlist announced on March 25, 2019. The Brunel International African Poetry Prize was founded in 2012 to revitalise African poetry. The prize planned to draw attention to poetry and to encourage a new generation of poets who might one day become […]
Nigerian poet and novelist Gabriel Okara died in his sleep at his home in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, after a brief illness on Monday, March 25, 2019. Gabriel Okara was born on April 24, 1921, in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He attended Government College Umuahia in the 1930s and 40s where he got exposed to and was […]
The longlists for the Writivism Short Story Prize 2019 and the Koffi Addo Creative Nonfiction Prize 2019 have been announced on March 25, 2019. Writivism, the project of writing as activism, that works to build the capacity for writing on the continent was started in Kampala, Uganda in 2012. The initiative includes the Writivism Short […]
Shadreck Chikoti and Abu Sense will be the first artists to rock the stage for Artistic Encounters in 2019 at the Goethe Institut Nairobi on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. They will be moderated by series creator and curator Zukiswa Wanner. In Artistic Encounters, two artists of different genres meet and create an art experience of […]
The Babishai Niwe Foundation is set to celebrate its tenth anniversary on World Poetry Day 2019 which is March 21, 2019. Ten years ago, Ugandan poet Beverley Nambozo came up with an idea that would revolutionise poetry in her country. She set up an organisation and an award scheme with her name to celebrate the […]
The Time of the Writer 2019, curated by South African author Niq Mhlongo, took place in Durban, South Africa from March 13-16, 2019. The Time of the Writer literary festival has hosted some of the most iconic names in African and world literature in Durban, South Africa. The festival on the South African coast, organised […]
Uzodinma Iweala, Trifonia Melibea Obono, and The Gerald Kraak Award Anthology are Lambda Literary Awards 2019 finalists. The Lambda Literary Awards, or the “Lammys,” as they are known are an award of Lambda Literary, the United States oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing LGBTQ literature. Previous winners of the awards from Africa include Chike […]
The mentors for Writivism 2019 were announced by the Kampala, Uganda headquartered initiative on March 16, 2019. Writivism, the project of writing as activism, that works to build the capacity for writing on the continent was started in Kampala, Uganda in 2012. One of its unique features is its mentor program where established writers mentor […]
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Petina Gappah are two of the many delegates set to attend the International Publishers Association Africa Seminar in Nairobi from June 14-15, 2019. At the Nairobi International Book Fair 2018 opening ceremony, the Kenya Publishers Association chairman Lawrence Njagi announced that the International Publishers Association (IPA) would be holding a seminar […]
Africa Writes 2019 returns on July 5-7, 2019 and will star the New Daughters of Africa, and Chigozie Obioma. The Africa Writes festival is a celebration of contemporary literature from Africa and the diaspora, brought to you by The Royal African Society and presented in partnership with the British Library. Previous headline speakers have been […]
Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is on the Rathbones Folio Prize 2019 longlist announced today March 18, 2019. The Rathbones Folio Prize, formerly known as the Folio Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years of 2014-2015. In December 2016, the prize announced that its […]
Bensalem Himmich and Dr. Abderrezak Belagrouz were announced as Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2019 winners on March 16, 2019. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is presented yearly to Arab writers, intellectuals, and publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab cultural, literary and social life. […]
Kwame Dawes, alongside seven other writers, was announced as a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize 2019 on March 13, 2019. The Windham-Campbell Prize, established in 2013 with a gift from the late Donald Windham in memory of his partner of 40 years, Sandy M. Campbell. At US$165,000, it is one of the richest and most […]
