Rémy Ngamije has emerged as the winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for African region.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English in the Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific regions. Each of these winners are then eligible for the global prize. Previous winners in the Africa region have been Jekwu Anyaegbuna (2012), Julian Jackson (2013), Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (2014), Lesley Nneka Arimah (2015), Faraaz Mahomed (2016), Akwaeke Emezi (2017), Efua Traoré (2018), Mbozi Haimbe (2019), and Chizaram Ilo (2020). Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi won the global prize in 2014.
The 2021 winners were selected from a total of 6423 entries from 50 Commonwealth countries. The judging panel for this year’s prize is chaired by South African novelist and critic Zoë Wicomb. The panel includes five judges drawn from the five regions of the Commonwealth: Nigerian author A. Igoni Barrett (Africa), Bangladeshi writer and editor Khademul Islam (Asia), British poet and fiction writer Keith Jarrett (Canada and Europe), Jamaican environmental activist and author Diana McCaulay (Caribbean), and essayist and fiction writer Tina Makereti (Pacific).
Africa judge, A. Igoni Barrett, spoke of Rémy Ngamije’s ‘Granddaughter of the Octopus’ as “a psychologically astute portrait of a larger-than-life character whose rollicking essence is distilled into the reader’s imagination through concise prose, yes, and poetic detail, yes again. But there’s also that extra magic of the writer who wields metaphor like a whip cracking at untamed life. The unforgettable matriarch of this bittersweet tale is audacious, indecorous, and unabashedly sensual, all of which, and much, much more—I must add hilarious—are captured in a voice both raw and tender as a welt. To quote the story’s narrator, “The past always wins.” But the future, in the transfiguring writing of Rémy Ngamije, is winning this time.’
Commenting on his win, Remy Ngamije said; ‘to win for the Africa region is unexpected and humbling; I am honoured to join the likes of Innocent Chizaram, Faraaz Mohamed, Lesley Nneka Arimah, and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – writers whose works and unfolding careers continue to inspire me. It is my hope this recognition encourages more writers from my home country, and those from less established literary traditions, to continue their writing journeys, to find the courage, patience, and confidence needed to participate in this intercontinental community of storytelling.’
The five regional winners’ stories will be published online by the literary magazine Granta in the run-up to the announcement of the overall winner. The stories will also be published in a special print edition by Paper + Ink. The overall winner will be announced on June 30, 2021.
Image Source: Ake Arts and Book Festival
Recent Comments