The Caine Prize 2011: The winner

I did a short review of  the Caine Prize 2011 anthology To See The Mountain and Other Stories for the August edition of Lime magazine. It is also online here.

The winner of The Caine Prize for African Writing is Elizabeth Tshele who writes as NoViolet Bulawayo, a young Zimbabwean. Her short story Hitting Budapest  tells how a gang of starving children, leave their side of town, Paradise, to go to the wealthy district, Budapest, to steal guavas. Based on Elizabeth’s own experiences, this lightly written story sharply examines the divide between Africans and non-Africans, as observed by youngsters who have dreams for a better future.

It is one of 17 stories in The Caine Prize 2011 collection To See the Mountain and Other Stories, along with all this year’s shortlisted candidates, the book also has new stories by the 2010 shortlisted authors, and by others who attended The Caine Prize writers’ workshop in Cameroon.

Much like The Orange Prize (for women writers), The Caine Prize also generates a whole heap of bile, anxiety and anguish. Questions such as ‘Do we need a prize for African writing?’ ‘Is this the best that Africa can do?’ ‘Where are the non-stereotypical literary views of Africa?’ The fact is these writers have told the stories they want to tell. That they had a go at describing an Africa that they want to share is only to be admired. Track down a copy of To See the Mountain and read for yourself, the variety, potential and strength of African writing.