10 Years of the Caine Prize for African Writing: Plus Coetzee, Gordimer, Achebe, Okri

The Caine Prize for African Writing #Best Of

by The Caine Prize for African Writing (Editor)

Celebrating ten years of the leading literary prize for African fiction (dubbed "The African Booker"), 10 Years of the Caine Prize brings together the ten winning stories along with a story each from the four African winners of the Booker Chinua Achebe, J.M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, and Ben Okri.

The ten

Leila Aboulela for The MuseumHelon Habila for Love PoemsBinyavanga Wainaina for Discovering HomeYvonne Adhiambo Owuor for Weight of WhispersBrian Chikwava for Seventh Street AlchemyS.A. Afolabi for Monday Morning Mary Watson for JungfrauMonica Arac de Nyeko for Jambula TreeHenrietta Rose-Innes for Poison

(The tenth winner is to be announced and published in the New Internationalist in July 2009.)

Genres: Africa, Short Stories, Fiction

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Anetq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collecting the first 10 winners of the Caine Prize (aka "the African Man Booker Prize") this anthology gives a taste of newer African writing in short form. Some of these authors has since published great novels, but here is a first taste in the form of novellas. This collection is supplemented with the three African Man Booker Prize winners.
Content:
3 stories by the African Man Booker Prize Winners:
The Ultimate Safari by Nadine Gordimer
Nietverloren by J. M. Coetzee
Incidents at the Shrine by Ben Okri

The Caine Prize Winners 2000-2009
The Museum by Leila Aboulela (2000, Sudan)
Love Poems by Helon Habila (2001, Nigeria)
Discovering Home by Binyavanga Wainaina (2002, Kenya)
- Weight of Whispers by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (2003, Kenya)
Seventh Street Alchemy by Brian Chikwava (2004, Zimbabwe)
Monday Morning by Segun Afolabi (2005, Nigeria)
Jungfru by Mary Watson (2006, South Africa)
Jambula Tree by Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007, Uganda)
Poison by Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008, South Africa)
Waiting by EC Osondu (2009, Nigeria)

An Emissary - by Nadine Gordimer

[Rebecca Shtasel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume provided such a range of stories - some funny, some horrific, some thought-provoking, some poetic and experimental. I can't say I enjoyed them all, but I certainly appreciated the glimpse they gave me of the writing coming out of Africa - and a desire to read more African authors. The writing here was equal to the best of writing coming from other continents and we're missing out by not reading their authors more.

[Hayden Trenholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to recent African writing

[Maria Skyllas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book compiles three stories from the winners of the Booker Prize, and ten stories for which the Cain Prize was awarded, from 2000 to 2009. I particularly enjoyed these:

- The Ultimate Safari, about a young war regugee's struggles and hopes.

- The Museum, depicting the clash of cultures between two students, a Sudanese woman and a Scottish man.

- Love Poems, regarding a political prisoner writing love poems for his guard's fiancé. My favorite one.

- Jambula Tree, exploring lesbian love, a big taboo in Uganda.

Beautiful diverse stories. I want more! I'll definitely look out for the following years' winning stories.

[Leigh Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also known as the African Booker award, the Caine Prize is given to short stories from African writers composing in English. The stories gathered here are vivid and disturbing, illuminating all sorts of conflicts and difficulties the average American probably knows very little about. Gordimer and Coetzee have won this award, but discovering new-to-you authors is going to be what this anthology's all about, if you decide to pick it up. My favorite was Henrietta Rose-Inness's "Poison," which is possibly a dystopian sci-fi story or -- more horrifyingly - not. Recommended for yinzerati who want to explore the best of African writing.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

These stories are nicely enough written, but there is so much self-pity in the stories that it's hard to work up enough empathy to contribute to the already overflowing pool. When I feel my worsr, I remind myself that at least I don't have to live in Africa. I know these people have serious and apparently insurmountable problems. But the writers of the stories are the lucky ones who have the chance to opt out if they choose to. They should be a little bit happy about that and save some of their pity for those who don't have this choice.

[Michele White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds you of how good short stories can be. There's a definite intensity to the book, especially as it addresses issues of hunger and genocide. But the writing is vibrant and varied and you travel from Sudan to South Africa. And, albeit a bit over the top, I love Ben Okri's introduction. Well done, Africa.

[Nina Chachu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a read for the Accra Book Club, and a pretty good choice of some of the best African short stories written in the 2000s. I had read some of them before, in addition to hearing them being read on the BBC. As with all such collections, there are some stories which I enjoyed more than others. It is a good place to start if one is interested in short stories.