The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced that South African writer Nadia Davids has won the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing for her remarkable short tale Bridling, which was published in The Georgia Review in 2023.
This year’s competition saw a record-breaking amount of submissions from 28 African countries contending for the prestigious prize, as well as a significant milestone in the Caine Prize’s history as it celebrates its 25th year.
Davids will receive the coveted £10,000 (around R232,377) Caine Prize and have her piece featured in the 2024 Caine Prize Anthology, Midnight in the Mortuary and Other Stories.
“Bridling is an impressive achievement, a triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking while maintaining a tightly controlled narrative about women who rebel.
“It embodies the spirit of the Caine Prize, which is to celebrate the richness and diversity of short stories by African writers. That is to say, to challenge the single story of African literature,” said award-winning author Chika Unigwe, the chair of judges.
Nadia Davids joins the ranks of past winners, including Senegalese writers Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo (2023), Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo (2022), Ethiopian-American writer Meron Hadero (2021), and Nigerian-British writer Irenosen Okjie (2020).
This year’s judging panel included Julianknxx, a poet, artist, and filmmaker; Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, a writer, scholar, and filmmaker; Tumi Molekane, also known as Stogie T, a hip-hop musician; and author Ayesha Harruna Attah.
Commenting on this year’s award, Ellah Wakatama OBE, chair of the Caine Prize Board of Trustees, said: “I was delighted by the range and ambition of this year’s shortlisted stories. It is especially pleasing to see writers many will recognise and to introduce new voices. As we enter into our 25th year, it’s wonderful to have such a strong shortlist and formidable Nadia Davis as our winner.”
IOL