Zimbabwean author wins Caine Prize for African Literature

Congratulations to Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo for winning this year's Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story titled "Hitting Budapest," orignally published in the Boston Review.

The Caine Prize is in memory of Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker publishers who was a great supporter of African literature. Caine was chairman of the Africa 95 festival and he chaired the Booker Prize management committee for almost 25 years.

The 12th annual Caine prize was announced this week at Oxford University's historic Bodleian Library where guests gathered to celebrate African writing. 

Bulawayo was selected from six shortlisted candidates. "Hitting Budapest" is “reminiscent of 'A Clockwork Orange',” according to Hisham Matar, chair of the judging panel. The story has "moral power and weight, it has the artistry to refrain from moral commentary and the author has taken delight in language," according to one of the judges.

The prize will open doors for Bulawayo in the publishing world, according to Ellah Allfrey, publisher and Granta deputy editor. "What the Caine Prize does is it really hurtles you up onto the world's stage. It brings you to the attention of publishers and literary agents. I think it can only be a good thing," she explained.

The Caine prize comes with a £10,000 ($16,000) cash prize and Bulawayo will also be given the opportunity to take up a month's residence at Georgetown University, Washington DC, as a writer-in-residence.

NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Tshele, who is currently a Truman Capote Fellow at Cornell University. 

Bulawayo is definitely an up and coming writer. Her book "Snapshots," was shortlisted for the 2009 South Africa PEN/Studzinski Literary Award.

The story "Hitting Budapest" involves child soldiers and hungry children from a shanty town who steal guavas from an up market suburb. 

In writing "Hitting Budapest" Bulawayo said she wanted to inspire underprivileged African children when she wrote the story.

"I wanted to inspire African children," said Bulawayo. "I needed them to know that they can become better and have dreams. Although based in Zimbabwe, it's not meant to only tell a Zimbabwean story but one of all Africa. Many children from Africa go through the same challenges and writing this was for the disadvantaged children in Africa.

"They need to believe that they are not defined by circumstances but they can rise up and achieve and they should not let the past define them. Instead let them write and plan for their future," said Bulawayo.

Bulawayo says that her favorite writers include Daniel Defoe, the Bronte sisters, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yvonne Vera, Petina Gappah, Barbara Kingsolver, J.M. Coetzee, Maxine Hong Kingston and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Bulawayo said that she has just finished a novel entitled "We Need New Names" and has started working on a memoir projec that will include non-fiction work, discussions about issues like AIDS, women and children, as well as short stories. 

Want to know more about NoViolet Bulawayo? Read the informative interview by Fatuma Noor that was published in the Nairobi Star.

Other African writers shortlisted for this year's Caine prize are: Beatrice Lamwaka of Uganda for “Butterfly dreams,” Tim Keegan of South Africa for “What Molly Knew,” Lauri Kubuitsile of Botswana for “In the spirit of McPhineas Lata” and David Medalie of South Africa for “The Mistress’s Dog.” Last year's Caine prize winner was Olufemi Terry who won for “Stickfighting Days.”

South Africa's cool Books LIVE site published this tasty snippet of Bulawayo's prizewinning story:

"We are on our way to Budapest: Bastard and Chipo and Godknows and Sbho and Stina and me. We are going even though we are not allowed to cross Mzilikazi Road, even though Bastard is supposed to be watching his little sister Fraction, even though mother would kill me dead if she found out; we are going. There are guavas to steal in Budapest, and right now I’d die for guavas, or anything for that matter. My stomach feels like somebody just took a shovel and dug everything out.
"Getting out of Paradise is not so hard since the mothers are busy with hair and talk. They just glance at us when we file past and then look away. We don’t have to worry about the men under the jacaranda either since their eyes never lift from the draughts. Only the little kids see us and want to follow, but Bastard just wallops the naked one at the front with a fist on his big head and they all turn back."

Books LIVE also includes a link to the full story.