| reviews
Writing
Still: New Stories From Zimbabwe Zimbabwean Author Wins Caine Prize Zimbabwe's Brian Chikwava tonight won the Caine Prize for African Writing for his story Seventh Street Alchemy." Chikwava, 32, received the prize at a dinner at Oxford University's Bodleian Library. The £8,000 Caine Prize is bestowed annually for a short story published in English by an African writer. Chairman of the judges Alvaro Ribeiro described the winning story as "a very strong narrative in which Brian Chikwava of Zimbabwe claims the English language as his own, and English with African characteristics". He said it was "a triumph for the long tradition of Zimbabwe writing in the face of Zimbabwe's uncertain future". Born in Zimbabwe in 1972, Chikwava now lives in London, where he is working on a novella and an album of music drawing on township jazz, ska and blues influences. Founded in 2000, the Caine Prize is named after the late Sir Michael Caine, head of Booker PLC and founder of the Booker Prize. The other finalists were Uganda's Doreen Baingana for Hunger, Kenya's Parselelo Kantai for "The Story of Comrade Lemma and the Black Jerusalem Boys Band, Uganda's Monica Arac de Nyeko for Strange Fruit and Nigeria's Chika Unigwe for The Secret. Bio from Caine Prize website: Brian Chikwava was born in Victoria Falls in 1972 and grew up in Bulawayo. He completed his schooling in Zimbabwe before leaving for university in Bristol, UK, where he graduated with a B.Sc (Hon). Apart from writing Chikwava is also a blues/Afro-jazz guitarist/singer/songwriter and a keen follower of the visual arts scene. He was once a member of the now defunct Zimbabwe Association of Arts Critics and has spent a lot of time collaborating with some of Harare's upcoming jazz musicians on experimental shows trying to fuse action painting and live music. Brian is currently working on some short stories and a music album. © The author/publisher
|