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Three Nigerians in race for Commonwealth Writers' Prize
THREE Nigerian writers, Karen King-Aribisala, who is on sabbatical from the University of Lagos, where she is an associate professor and currently at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France; Ifeoma Chinwuba and Sade Adeniran, are in the race for the 2008 Commonwealth Writer's Prize Best Book Award and Best First Book Award for Africa.
According to the organisers of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, which started in 1987, the award goes to show that outstanding literary talents exist in Commonwealth, who are making significant contribution to contemporary writing in English and "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin, the Commonwealth Foundation established the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1987."
The chairperson of the jury for Africa, Professor Arthur Gakwandi (Uganda), reveals there was "none of the big names of African literature were involved in the competition this year, with most of the entries coming from relatively little known writers. As with year, the entries were dominated by South Africa, followed by Nigeria. In both cases the entries and short lists reflect the dominance of new talents on the literary scene."
Chinwuba's Waiting for an Angel was published by Spectrum Books, Nigeria, King-Aribisala is contending for the Best Book Award with her novel, The Hangman's Game, published by Peepal Press, UK. Her other book, Our Wife and Other Stories, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (African Region) in 1990/91.
In the Best First Book Award category, Adeniran, Imagine This, (SW Books). She has written a commissioned radio play for the BBC Radio 4, Memories of a Distant Past.
The objectives of the prize are to promote new voices, reward achievement, encourage wider readership and greater literacy, thereby increasing appreciation of different cultures and building understanding between cultures
The Commonwealth Writers' Prize is chaired by Justice Nicholas Hasluck, distinguished Australian author and leading judicial officer. Justice Hasluck has published 10 works of fiction, including the award-winning The Bellarmine Jug and The Country Without Music.
Four international judging panels in each Commonwealth region; Africa; Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia; and South East Asia and South Pacific have chosen the following books in each region from an impressive list of 320 entries.
The 2008 judges are Professor Arthur Gakwandi (Uganda) - Chairperson; Dr Olutoyin Bimpe Jegede (Nigeria); Maureen Isaacson (South Africa) for Africa. Dr Michael Bucknor (Jamaica) - Chairperson - Dr Antonia MacDonald-Smythe (St. Lucia) and D Y. Bˇchard (Canada) for Canada and the Caribbean.
Europe and South Asia have Professor Makarand Paranjape (India) - Chairperson - Professor Neloufer de Mel (Sri Lanka) and Donna Daley-Clarke (UK), while South East Asia and South Pacific have Dr Christine Prentice (New Zealand) - Chairperson - Professor Dennis Haskell (Australia) and Professor Chitra Sankaran (Singapore).
The two regional winners will be announced on March 13, during the Commonwealth Week, and will enter the final stage of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize where they will go head to head with the six other regional winners.
All regional winners will be invited to take part in a week-long programme of readings, community activities and other public events alongside the final pan-Commonwealth judging, in South Africa in May 2008. The week's programme will culminate in the announcement of the overall Best Book and Best First Book winners in a special ceremony as part of the 2008 Franschhoek Literary Festival, in the Cape Winelands District, on Sunday 18 May. The final programme is being run in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa, and the Franschhoek Literary Festival.
£10,000 will be awarded to the author of Overall Best Book, and£5,000 to the author of Best First Book.
The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, established in 1987, is sponsored and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries.
The Macquarie Group Foundation is one of Australia's leading philanthropic foundations, contributing 12.6 million Australian dollars to more than 500 community organisations in the year to March 31, 2007. It is the philanthropic arm of Macquarie Group Limited, which provides investment banking, commercial banking and selected retail financial services throughout the world.
The £10, 000 Best Book Prize 2007 was awarded to New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones for Mister Pip. The Best First Book Prize 2007 of £5,000 went to Canadian writer D Y Bˇchard for Vandal Love.
The short listed books
Africa
(Best Book)
Barbara Adair (South Africa) End Jacana Media
Ifeoma Chinwuba (Nigeria) Waiting for Maria Spectrum Books
Finuala Dowling(South Africa) Flyleaf Penguin Books SA
Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman's Game Peepal Tree Press
Susan Mann (South Africa ) Quarter Tones Harvill Secker
Zakes Mda (South Africa) Cion Penguin Books SA
Best First Book
Sade Adeniran (Nigeria ) Imagine This SW Books
Ceridwen Dovey (South Africa) Blood Kin Penguin Books SA
Dayo Forster (Gambia) Reading the Ceiling Simon and Schuster
Ken Kamoche (Kenya) A Fragile Hope Salt Publishing
Sumayya Lee (South Africa) The Story of Maha South Africa Kwela Books
Carel van der Merwe (South Africa) No Man's Land Umuzi
Canada and the Caribbean
Best Book
Gil Adamson (Canada) The Outlander House of Anansi Press
Erna Brodber (Jamaica) The Rainmaker's Mistake New Beacon Books
Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Robert Hough (Canada) The Culprits Canada Random House Canada
Frances Itani (Canada) Remembering the Bones Phyllis Bruce Books
Michael Ondaatje (Canada) Divisadero Bloomsbury Publishing
Best First Book
David Chariandy (Canada) Soucouyant Arsenal Pulp Press
Tish Cohen (Canada) Town House HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Arley McNeney (Canada) Post Thistledown Press
Ameen Merchant (Canada) The Silent Raga Douglas & McIntyre
C.S. Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada
Neil Smith (Canada) Bang Crunch Knopf Canada
Europe And South Asia
Best Book
David Davidar (India) The Solitude of Emperors Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan) The Reluctant Fundamentalist Viking, Penguin
Usha K.R. (India) Girl and a River Penguin Books India
Hari Kunzru (UK) My Revolutions Hamish Hamilton
Nicholas Shakespeare (UK) Secrets of the Sea Harvill Secker
Indra Sinha (India) Animal's People Simon and Schuster
Best First Book
Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
A Golden Age John Murray
Priya Basil (UK) Ishq and Mushq Transworld Publishers
Shandana Minhas (UK) Tunnel Vision Roli Books
Catherine O'Flynn (UK) What was Lost Tindal Street Press
Jeremy Page (UK) Salt Viking, Penguin
JM Shaw (UK) The Illumination of Merton Browne Sceptre
South East Asia And South Pacific
Best Book Award
Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins
Sonya Hartnett (Australia) The Ghosts Child Penguin Australia
Sarah Hopkins (Australia) The Crimes of Billy Fish ABC Books
Mireille Juchau (Australia) Burning In Australia Giramondo
Michelle De Kretser (Australia) The Lost Dog Australia Allen & Unwin
Alex Miller (Australia) Landscape of Farewell Allen & Unwin
Best First Book Award
Steven Conte (Australia) The Zookeepers War Australia Harper Collins
Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings Australia UQP
Sara Knox (Australia) The Orphan Gunner Giramondo
Carol Lefevre (Australia) Nights in the Asylum Picador
Marcella Polain (Australia) The Edge of the World Fremantle Press
Stephen Scourfield (Australia) Other Country Australia Allen & Unwin
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