Great African Reads discussion

We've decided to kick off our (bi-)monthly side read alongside the alphabetic country tour. I thought we'd start with The 2017 Caine Prize shortlist. The Caine Prize is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer published in English. This year there are three Nigerians, one South African, and one Sudanese in the shortlist.

We will begin with two stories from the shortlist:

Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria) for 'Who Will Greet You At Home' published in The New Yorker (USA. 2015). Lesley Nneka Arimah is the author of What It Means When A Man Falls from the Sky, a collection of stories published by Riverhead Books (US) and Tinder Press (UK), 2017. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Per Contra and other publications. Lesley was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2016 and was a participant in the Caine Prize 2017 workshop in Tanzania.

Arinze Ifeakandu (Nigeria) for 'God's Children Are Little Broken Things' published in A Public Space 24 (A Public Space Literary Projects, Inc., USA. 2016). Arinze was the editor of The Muse (No. 24) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he studied English and literature, graduating in 2016. In 2013, Arinze attended the Farafina Trust Creative Writing workshop and was shortlisted for the BN Poetry Prize in 2015. Arinze was a 2015 Emerging Writer fellow of A Public Space magazine, where his short story was published.

The discussion starts on the 1st of June. Until then, feel free to comment or post anything interesting related to the stories/authors/The Caine Prize!

Enjoy! :)

Sofia wrote: "I thought we'd start with The 2017 Caine Prize shortlist"
And all the shortlisted stories are accessible (and available for free) on the Caine Prize website - great choice Sofia!

I am so looking forward to reading Lesley Nneka Arimah short story collection What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky.

Everyone that I know that has read this book - really "enjoyed" this collection.

While I will admit to being a "horrible" short story reader I will be reading this one.

I have enjoyed reading the Caine Prize Short list stories in the past, my favorite usually does not win but that is a personal preference and I can usually see the value in the story that wins. :)

The Caine Prize winner will be announced next week.

Here is a link where you can listen to the short list being read.
http://caineprize.com/2017-shortlist/

I am going to try this as it seems I have not gotten around to "reading" the stories.

Beverly wrote: "The Caine Prize winner will be announced next week.

Here is a link where you can listen to the short list being read.
http://caineprize.com/2017-shortlist/

I am going to try this as it seems I ha..."

I am terrible at following through and reading short stories. Thanks for the nudge, and links.

Thanks for link Beverley!

Carol: Same, which is why I printed these out! :)

Long time since I posted but short stories always get my attention :)
I haven't found their thread other than here - so when are we starting?

Sheila wrote: "Long time since I posted but short stories always get my attention :)
I haven't found their thread other than here - so when are we starting?"

You can begin whenever you like, and you can start your discussion here, as well. The links to the featured stories can be found in the first post of this thread. Happy reading!

Just started a separate thread on the first story 'Who Will Greet You At Home' by Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria)

And the winner is:

Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for his short story entitled “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away”, translated by Max Shmookler, published in The Book of Khartoum - A City in Short Fiction (Comma Press, UK. 2016). The Chair of Judges, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, announced Bushra al-Fadil as the winner of the £10,000 prize at an award dinner this evening (Monday, 3 July) held for the first time in Senate House, London, in partnership with SOAS as part of their centenary celebrations. As a translated story, the prize money will be split – with £7,000 going to Bushra and £3,000 to the translator, Max Shmookler.

“The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away” vividly describes life in a bustling market through the eyes of the narrator, who becomes entranced by a beautiful woman he sees there one day. After a series of brief encounters, tragedy unexpectedly befalls the woman and her young female companion.

Here is the link to the full article:
http://caineprize.com/press-releases/...

Has anyone read this story?

Beverly wrote: "And the winner is:

Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for his short story entitled “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds ..."


Working through the shortlist just now so will get to it eventually. What did you think of it? Of the others?

I just started a thread on the second story https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I do hope others are reading these

Personally I am going to work up to the winner, that way I can fairly compare it to all the others.

I have not read The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away but I will at it to my list.

Beverly wrote: "And the winner is:

Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for his short story entitled “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds ..."

Beverley, Jacqueline, I just read the winning story - very good, I definitely recommend it. The last 2 I read were in my opinion the best in the bunch for very different reasons, with the final one being the winner. I thought it a more well crafted story, full of sociopolitical metaphor, with beautifully poetic, rhythmic language. I do hope others will try these stories out - I started discussion threads on each one in the hope to entice some commentaries :)