The shortlists for the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize and the Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Non-fiction have been announced.

The Writivism Short Story Prize has been awarded annually since 2013, for ‘brilliant short fiction by emerging writers living on the African continent’.

The Koffi Addo Prize was founded in 2016, and is awarded annually for ‘outstanding non-fiction by emerging writers living on the African continent’.

Each of the shortlists is made up of three stories, and this year one writer, Frances Ogamba, features on both, which the prize calls ‘a true mark of their excellence as a writer considering both prizes had different judges’.

2019 Writivism Short Story Prize shortlist

• ‘Ghana Boy’ by Frances Ogamba (Nigeria) 
  Frances Ogamba’s stories have appeared in Afridiaspora and the Writivism digital mini anthology, Dwartonline and Ynaija websites, and on Enkare Review. She is a workshop alumnus of Writivism 2016, Ake fiction 2016, and Winter Tangerine 2016. She lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
• ‘Tale’ by Vuyelwa Maluleke (South Africa) 
  Vuyelwa Maluleke is a performance poet, scriptwriter and actor. She was shortlisted for the Brunel University African Poetry Prize in 2014, and is the author of the chapbook Things We Lost in the Fire. She was a slam champion of the 2015 Word N Sound Poetry League competition and has an essay in the recent publication Selves: An Afro Anthology of Creative Nonfiction. She is currently a Masters in Creative Writing candidate at the University previously known as Rhodes.
• ‘Maserumo’ by Resoketswe Manenzhe (South Africa) 
  Resoketswe Manenzhe is a PhD candidate in the chemical engineering department at the University of Cape Town. Starting in 2015, her poems and short stories have appeared in several online magazines and journals, and in 2017 two of her poems were shortlisted for the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award, and were published in the subsequent anthology of selected poems. 

Notable Mention: ‘There is Goodness Waiting at Home’ by Temitope Owolabi (Nigeria).

2019 Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Non-fiction shortlist

• ‘How to Wear Your Body’ by Eugene Yakubu (Nigeria)
  Eugene Yakubu is a storyteller and cultural critic who lives and writes from Nigeria. He writes essays and non-fiction on non-normative identities, fluid gender roles and human rights. He is running a graduate research on Queer Studies and LGBTI narratives in African literature at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His non-fiction ‘This Hell of a Body’ has been shortlisted for the 2019 Gerald Kraak Award.
• ‘The Valley of Memories’ by Frances Ogamba (Nigeria)
  Frances Ogamba’s stories appear in Afridiaspora and the Writivism digital mini anthology, Dwartonline and Ynaija websites, and on Enkare Review. She is a workshop alumnus of Writivism 2016, Ake Fiction 2016, and Winter Tangerine 2016. She lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
• The Comedian by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola (Nigeria)
  Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. His work interrogates anxiety, broken lineage, [in]sanity, grief and the black body as a warfront – you know, typical stuff happy people write about. His debut collection of nightmares, In My Country, We’re All Crossdressers, was published as a chapbook by Praxis. He is the founder of the Sprinng Literary Movement.

All shortlisted writers will receive $150 and travel to Kampala, Uganda for the Writivism Festival, happening from 15 to 18 August, 2019 at The National Theatre, where the winners will be announced.

The two winners will each receive $500 as well as the chance to work on their manuscript during a one-month residency at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The longlisted stories will be published in the 2019 Writivism anthology.

The 2019 Koffi Addo Prize judging panel is Ayesha Haruna Attah (chair), Christopher Ouma and Karen Jennings. The 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize judging panel is Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (chair), Emmanuel Sigauke and Kinna Likkimani.