Via BooksLive I see that the Lumina Foundation has announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) the fifteen-title strong longlist for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
Selected from "Four hundred and two (402) entries from 26 African countries", they at least seem to have gotten a decent sampling of African literature -- though the requirement that: "For a book to be eligible, it must be written either in English or French" kind of limits things (the prize honors 'Literature in Africa', a continent of some fifty nations where it's apparently unthinkable that anyone write in any language other than English or French ...).
At least it's not just a short story prize, like the much more touted Caine Prize (and, at $20,000, hands out a bit more money (the Caine winner gets £10,000)0, but they could be a bit clearer on exactly what they're trying to honor: as it stands, they claim that: "Any excellently written book by an African in any genre may qualify for this award" (but don't forget that caveat: only if it's written in English or French ...).
Still, good to see a continent-spanning (sort of) book prize of this sort.
Selected from "Four hundred and two (402) entries from 26 African countries", they at least seem to have gotten a decent sampling of African literature -- though the requirement that: "For a book to be eligible, it must be written either in English or French" kind of limits things (the prize honors 'Literature in Africa', a continent of some fifty nations where it's apparently unthinkable that anyone write in any language other than English or French ...).
At least it's not just a short story prize, like the much more touted Caine Prize (and, at $20,000, hands out a bit more money (the Caine winner gets £10,000)0, but they could be a bit clearer on exactly what they're trying to honor: as it stands, they claim that: "Any excellently written book by an African in any genre may qualify for this award" (but don't forget that caveat: only if it's written in English or French ...).
Still, good to see a continent-spanning (sort of) book prize of this sort.