lesley nneka arimah caine prize

Nigerian Writer, Lesley Nneka Arimah Wins 2019 Caine Prize For African Writing


lesley nneka arimah caine prize

Nigerian writer, Lesley Nneka Arimah has won the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, Skinned. 

Before the win, Arimah’s story had appeared on the shortlist for the third time on the Caine prize, and there is definitely no wonder why her amazing story won the prize.

She was shortlisted alongside Meron Hadero (Ethiopia) for ‘The Wall’, Cherrie Kandie (Kenya) for ‘Sew My Mouth’, Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti (Cameroon) for ‘It Takes A Village Some Say’, and Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor (Nigeria) for ‘All Our Lives’.

ALSO READ: Naspers, Africa’s Most Valuable Company Appoints Its First Black Female CEO, Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa

A statement made by Caine Prize representatives reads;

‘Skinned’ envisions a society in which young girls are ceremonially ‘uncovered’ and must marry in order to regain the right to be clothed. It tells the story of Ejem, a young woman uncovered at the age of fifteen yet ‘unclaimed’ in adulthood, and her attempts to negotiate a rigidly stratified society following the breakdown of a protective friendship with the married Chidinma. With a wit, prescience, and a wicked imagination, ‘Skinned’ is a bold and unsettling tale of bodily autonomy and womanhood, and the fault lines along which solidarities are formed and broken.”


The £10,000 prize is the most prestigious literary award for a short story on the continent.

In 2016, Arimah was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for her short story which became the title story of her collection of short stories, ‘What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky.’ In 2017, Arimah’s ‘Who Will Greet You At Home’ which was shortlisted for the prize was first published in the New Yorker.

 





Tags:

Leave A Comment







Follow Us

Newsletter