The Etisalat Prize for Literature, a prize awarded to the best novel by an African writer, has announced the short list for its 2015 award, Book Live reports.
The books shortlisted are: Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Democratic Republic of Congo), The Story of Anna P, as Told by Herself by Penny Busetto (South Africa), and What will People Say by Rehana Rossouw (South Africa).
According to Chairman of judges Professor Ato Quayson, “The variety of styles and subject matter of the books on this year’s Etisalat Prize for Literature shortlist reveal the vitality of contemporary African literature. They contribute to our understanding of what it is to love, to laugh, to improvise, sometimes to despair, to know and yet be fooled by the assurance of such knowledge, to work for our ablution in the fate of another’s suffering, and ultimately to embrace life in all its bewildering complexities.”
All the shortlisted writers will have 1000 copies of their books bought by Etisalat and distributed across Africa, while the winner, to be announced in March, 2016 will receive £15 000, an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück pen and a sponsored fellowship at the University of East Anglia.
The 2014 prize was won by Songeziwe Mahlangu for his book Penumbra.