Shortlist for 2020 AKO Caine Prize Announced — The Caine Prize for African Writing

The Chair of judges, Director of The Africa Centre, Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE, said: "We were energised by the enormous breadth and diversity of the stories we were presented with - all of which collectively did much to challenge the notion of the African and diaspora experience, and its portrayal in fiction, as being one homogeneous whole.

"These brilliant and surprising stories are beautifully crafted, yet they are all completely different from one another. From satire and biting humour, to fiction based on non-fiction, with themes spanning political shenanigans, outcast communities, superstition and social status, loss, and enduring love. Each of these shortlisted stories speak eloquently to the human condition, and to what it is to be an African, or person of African descent, at the start of the second decade of the 21st century.
"Together, this year's shortlisted stories signal that African literature is in robust health, and, as demonstrated by the titles alone, never predictable."