Two Nigerians, journalist Abubakar Adam Ibrahim and children’s writer Ugo Anidi, have made it in the shortlist of five writers for the inaugural CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa, the jury announced on Wednesday.
Others in the shortlist are Fatou Sy from Senegal, and South African academicians Professor Pumla Dineo Gqola and Dr. Buntu Siwisa.
The organisers said in a statement that the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa recognises the publisher of the best African fiction or non-fiction title.
It is open to writers from all over the African continent with submissions reviewed by a team of experienced judges to select a long list before being narrowed down to the best works.
The contest is a project of the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) CANEX Book Factory and Narrative Landscape Press.
The jury for this edition, Nigeria’s Dr. Wale Okediran (chair), the Ivorian Edwige-Renée Dro, and Ashraf Aboul-Yazid of Egypt, went through the entries and a longlist was made public on Thursday, August 15.
The shortlist of standout publishers, editors, authors, and books the jury feels is shaping the future of our literature was announced on Wednesday, September 25 2024.
In his comments on the shortlisted candidates, Dr. Okediran said: “In line with our mandate to ‘judge the book as a physical object while also paying attention to its editorial work, including topical relevance and editorial risk,’ we have been able to produce a shortlist of five books which we believe have met the required standard of exceptional work and professionalism.
“The five finalists were drawn from a highly competitive process that involved 85 applications for published books from 45 publishers and 10 countries across Africa.”
Those on the shortlist are:
1. Reine Or, Fatou Sy (Les Case Des Lucioles)
2. Female Fear Factory: Unveiling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence, Pumla Dineo Gqola (Cassava Republic Press)
3. Paperless, Buntu Siwisa (Jacana Media)
4. When We Were Fireflies, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Masobe Books)
5. Half Hour Hara, Ugo Anidi (Kachifo)
The statement said the publisher of the Best Trade Book will be awarded a cash prize of US$20,000 with each of the four finalists receiving cash prizes of US$2,000 each during the CANEX WKND 2024 in Algiers, Algeria, this October.
