José Eduardo Agualusa was announced the winner in the literature section of the Angola National Prize for Culture and Arts 2019 on Monday, October 28, 2019. The Angolan National Prize for Culture and Arts is considered the most important distinction of the Angolan State with artists in a dozen categories including cinema, literature, music, theatre, […]
The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study Writing Fellowships announced its fellows for 2020 on October 26, 2019. The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) is a joint initiative of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Its purpose is to promote advanced research in the humanities and natural sciences, beyond the […]
The poet, SAI Sabouke, was appointed the Managing Editor of poetry collective Konya Shamsrumi, on October 28, 2019. Konya Shamsrumi, an Africa-centric, traditional-style, royalties-paying publishing house, was founded by the then five-member #KSRCollective (Kechi Nomu, Umar Sidi, Richard Ali, Funmi Gaji and Rasaq Malik Gbolahan) in November 2017. It quickly gained continental attention with its […]
The Africa Publishing Innovation Fund granted $170,000 to seven publishing-related projects across Africa on October 29, 2019. The Africa Publishing Innovation Fund was created following the agreement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and the International Publishers Association (IPA), the world’s largest trade […]
The winners of the Prix Du Morocco Du Livre 2019 were announced in Rabat, Morocco on October 18, 2019. Prix Du Maroc Du Livre or the Morocco Book Prize was founded to celebrate writers from the Northern African country in 1962. The prize, which doesn’t happen every year, has been won by among others Abdelkarim […]
The winners of the Hohe Awards 2019, Ethiopia’s premier literary awards, were announced in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on October 22, 2019. The HOHE Awards were set up in 2016 to promote creative writing and the reading culture in Ethiopia. They confer awards for writing poetry, writing for children as well as long fiction in English […]
Alamin Somo and John-Dennis Renken are the featured artists for Artistic Encounters at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi on October 30, 2019. Their show will be moderated by book blogger James Murua. In Artistic Encounters, two artists of different genres meet and create an art experience of their combined work then share it with the audience […]
Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys was announced the winner in the fiction category of the Kirkus Prize 2019 on October 24, 2019. Kirkus Reviews is a US book review magazine, founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus, that publishes previews of books prior to their publication. The Kirkus Prize was created to celebrate the years […]
Leila Aboulela is on the Saltire Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced on October 25, 2019, for her book Bird Summons. The Saltire Literary Awards were founded to recognise books which are either by “living authors of Scottish descent or residing in Scotland,” or which deal with “the work or life of a Scot or with […]
Deborah Ahenkorah, the executive director of the Golden Baobab Awards’ was announced the winner of the Global Pluralism Award 2019 on October 15, 2019. The Global Pluralism Award celebrates the extraordinary achievements of organizations, individuals and governments who are tackling the challenge of living peacefully and productively with diversity. The Award is a program of […]
The shortlist for the Morland Writing Scholarships 2019 was announced today, October 25, 2019. The Morland Writing Scholarships for African Writers, popularly referred to as the Morland Writing Scholarship, is an opportunity to allow writers to finish a manuscript. Scholars writing fiction receive a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over twelve months while those writing […]
Kagiso Lesego Molope novel This Book Betrays My Brother was announced the winner of the Ottawa Book Award 2019 on October 16, 2019. Since 1985, the Ottawa Book Awards / Le Prix du livre d’Ottawa have paid tribute to the Canadian city’s outstanding writers by shining the spotlight on the top English and French books […]
The winners of the African Speculative Society’s Nommo Awards 2019 were announced at the opening ceremony of the Ake Festival 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria on October 24, 2019. The Nommo Awards were introduced to celebrate speculative fiction, categorised in other markets as magical realism, Sci-Fi, horror, and graphic novel, in 2016. Previous winners have been […]
The film rights for Maaza Mengiste‘s second novel The Shadow King have been acquired by US film company Atlas Entertainment. On September 24, novelist and essayist Maaza Mengiste’s second novel The Shadow King made its official appearance on the world literary scene. The novel has the following blurb; In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to […]
Temitope Owolabi is on the shortlist for the Mo Siewcharran Prize 2019 announced on October 23, 2019. The Mo Siewcharran Prize was launched in April this year to help discover unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Mo Siewcharran, a popular personality in UK publishing, worked for years for firms like […]
