The awarding of the annual
Etisalat Prize for Literature today (March 19) is an opportunity to take a look at several ongoing continent-wide literary prizes* for African authors and writing, with attention to the languages they acknowledge. As a general rule, such awards only consider writing in (or translations into) Europhone languages, including 7 of the 8 profiled below. One explicitly accepts writing in an African language - Swahili.
Etisalat Prize for Literature
The
Etisalat Prize, now in its third year, was created in 2013 by
Etisalat Nigeria, a branch of the UAE multinational,
Etisalat. It is
open only for books published in English (or in English translation from another language).
The winner of the
2015 Etisalat Prize for African Literature announced today is Fiston Mwanza Mujila, for his novel
Tram 83, which was originally published in French and translated by Roland Glasser (evidently the prize
originally did not consider translations).
Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation
Babishai Niwe, formerly
Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award, is currently offering
two awards to African poets, one for haikus in English only, and another for poetry in English or in "local languages ... if English translations are sent alongside them."
The awards were begun in 2009 with only Ugandan women eligible. Beginning with the 2014 awards, men and non-Ugandan Africans could also submit entries.
Brunel University African Poetry Prize
The
Brunel University African Poetry Prize recognizes African poets, and is
awarded for poetry in English or translated into English. It was established in 2013 by British-Nigerian writer
Bernardine Evaristo and is sponsored by
Brunel University London with other British and US partners.
Caine Prize for African Writing
The
Caine Prize was established in 2000 in the UK, and is "
awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English." Stories translated into English from other languages and published are eligible. The prize is named after
Sir Michael Harris Caine.
Golden Baobab Prize
The
Golden Baobab Prize is awarded to African writers of
literature in English for children and young adults (there are three age categories). It was established in 2008 by the Ghanaian NGO, Golden Baobab Foundation for Education.
Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire
The
Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire was first awarded in 1960 and recognizes African writing in French. It is managed by the
Association des écrivains de langue française. The prize actually began
in 1926 under a different name.
Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature
The
Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature was
founded in 2014 to recognize "excellent writing in African languages and encouraging translation from, between and into African languages." All entries for the prize
must be in Swahili.
(The deadline for entries for the 2016 prize is March 31.)
The prize was founded by
Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Lizzy Attree. It is "primarily supported" by
Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya and
Cornell University.
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa
The
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is awarded every other year since 2006 for
literature in English or French. It is named after
Wole Soyinka, a laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1986).
The prize focuses on a different genre of literature for each award, such that drama was considered in 2014, poetry in 2016, and prose in 2018.
* Prizes no longer offered, like the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, which at one time was prominent, and prizes whose scope is not limited to Africa or African authors, are not considered in this list. I had trouble determining the current status of the Penguin Prize for African Writing, which was started in 2010. Unfortunately, Indiana University's African Literary Awards Database is not currently available for reference.
