AFRICAN VIOLET

Jacana Media is proud to present African Violet The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012.

The Caine Prize for African Writing showcases young writers who go on to publish successful novels. The book includes 18 short stories – the winner and shortlist (5 stories) plus a dozen stories written at the Caine Prize writers’ workshop.

The winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize for this year is Rotimi Babatunde for his short story entitled Bombay’s Republic and deals with the story of a Nigerian soldier fighting in the Burma campaign of World War Two. Babatunde, who lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, is currently taking part in a collaboratively-produced piece at the Royal Court and the Young Vic as part of World Stages for a World City.

As winner of the Caine Prize, he will be given the opportunity of taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. The award covers all travel and living expenses. He will also be invited to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September 2012 and events hosted by the Museum of African Art in New York in November 2012.

The other authors shortlisted for the Caine Prize appearing in the publication are Billy Kahora (Kenya); Stanley Kenani (Malawi); Melissa Tandiwe Myambo (Zimbabwe), and Constance Myburgh (South Africa).

The Caine Prize is principally sponsored by The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, the Booker Prize Foundation, Weatherly International plc, China Africa Resources, CSL Stockbrokers and Miles Morland. Other funders include the British Council, The Beit Trust, The Thistle Trust, the Royal Overseas League and Kenya Airways.

Published by Jacana in paperback, African Violet The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012 retails at R150. ISBN 978-1-4314-0492-6