KENYAN WRITER, PETER NGILA NJERI CLINCHES 2023 JAMES CURRY PRIZE FOR AFRICAN LITERATURE

by | Sep 6, 2023 | Gist Corner

Selected from a diverse pool of five shortlisted writers, Kenyan writer, Peter Ngila Njeri, has been announced as this year’s winner of The James Curry Prize for his novel manuscript: “The Legend of Beach House.” The award ceremony took place in Oxford at the African Literature Festival, September 3.  His manuscript was described as “magical realism” that tackles pertinent African issues. In a celebratory tweet, Peter writes:

My novel manuscript, The Legend of Beach House, has won the 2023 James Currey Prize for African Literature! Will be published in the UK by Abibiman Publishing. In the spirit of writers winning together, I’ll share some of the prize money with two of the fellow shortlisted writers.

 He is awarded £1,000 prize and a publishing deal with Abibiman Publishing UK.

This year’s edition recorded 80 entries from African writers. These writers were “spread across East, West, Central and Southern Africa.” Only 51 met the rules and progressed to the assessment stage. They showed “flair”, “panache” and were a marker that “the next generation of ingenious African storytellers are waiting in the wings, if not here already.” This year, the jury was chaired by Henry Akubuiro, and included: Nneoma Otuegbe, Tatiana Cassiano, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, Javier Gutierrez Lozano, Debbie Edwards and Masande Ntshanga. The five shortlisted entries in addition to Peter’s “The Legend of Beach House” include:

-“Bolga by Bus” by A.G. Agambila (Ghana)

-“Akala” by William Moore (Nigeria)

-“Black Fractures in Exile” by Limpho Sechele (South Africa)

-“A Dangerous Job for a Woman” by Patriciaj

Peter Ngila Njeri is the author of “Changing the World While Changing Diapers” (co-written with Isabell Kempf). He is also recipient of the Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award and a fellow of Nigeria’s Ebedi International Writers Residency. Peter’s short stories have been published in ten countries across the world. He lives in Nairobi with his shelf of books.

“The James Currey Prize for African Literature is an annual award for the best-unpublished work of fiction written in English by any writer, set in Africa or on Africans in Africa or in Diaspora.

It was established in 2020 by Nigerian writer, filmmaker and publisher of Hattus Books, Onyeka Nwelue, in honour of James Currey, the leading publisher of academic books on Africa – dedicated to distributing books about Africa in Africa”