2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize shortlists announced
REGIONAL SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED22nd Commonwealth Writers' Prize
The shortlists for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award and Best First Book Award have been announced (Wednesday 13 February). Four international judging panels in each Commonwealth region; Africa; Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia; and South East Asia and South Pacific have chosen the following books in each region from an impressive list of 320 entries.
AFRICA
Best Book
Barbara Adair (South Africa) End Jacana Media
Ifeoma Chinwuba (Nigeria) Waiting for Maria Spectrum Books
Finuala Dowling(South Africa) Flyleaf Penguin Books SA
Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman's Game Peepal Tree Press
Susan Mann (South Africa ) Quarter Tones Harvill Secker
Zakes Mda (South Africa) Cion Penguin Books SA
Best First Book
Sade Adeniran (Nigeria ) Imagine This SW Books
Ceridwen Dovey (South Africa) Blood Kin Penguin Books SA
Dayo Forster (Gambia) Reading the Ceiling Simon and Schuster
Ken Kamoche (Kenya) A Fragile Hope Salt Publishing
Sumayya Lee (South Africa) The Story of Maha South Africa Kwela Books
Carel van der Merwe (South Africa) No Man's Land Umuzi
CANADA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Best Book
Gil Adamson (Canada) The Outlander House of Anansi Press
Erna Brodber (Jamaica) The Rainmaker's Mistake New Beacon Books
Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Robert Hough (Canada) The Culprits Canada Random House Canada
Frances Itani (Canada) Remembering the Bones HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Michael Ondaatje (Canada) Divisadero Bloomsbury Publishing/ McClelland & Stewart
Best First Book
David Chariandy (Canada) Soucouyant Arsenal Pulp Press
Tish Cohen (Canada) Town House HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Arley McNeney (Canada) Post Thistledown Press
Ameen Merchant (Canada) The Silent Raga Douglas & McIntyre
C.S. Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada
Neil Smith (Canada) Bang Crunch Knopf Canada
EUROPE AND SOUTH ASIA
Best Book
David Davidar (India )The Solitude of Emperors Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan)The Reluctant Fundamentalist Viking, Penguin Books India PVT Ltd/Hamish Hamilton
Usha K.R. (India) Girl and a River Penguin Books India PVT Ltd
Hari Kunzru (UK) My Revolutions Hamish Hamilton
Nicholas Shakespeare (UK) Secrets of the Sea Harvill Secker
Indra Sinha (India ) Animal's People Simon and Schuster
Best First Book
Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) A Golden Age John Murray
Priya Basil (UK) Ishq and Mushq Transworld Publishers
Shandana Minhas (UK) Tunnel Vision Roli Books
Catherine O'Flynn (UK) What was Lost Tindal Street Press
Jeremy Page (UK) Salt Viking, Penguin
JM Shaw (UK) The Illumination of Merton Browne Sceptre
SOUTH EAST ASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC
Best Book Award
Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins
Sonya Hartnett (Australia) The Ghosts Child Penguin Australia
Sarah Hopkins (Australia) The Crimes of Billy Fish ABC Books
Mireille Juchau (Australia) Burning In Giramondo
Michelle De Kretser (Australia) The Lost Dog Allen & Unwin
Alex Miller (Australia) Landscape of Farewell Allen & Unwin
Best First Book Award
Steven Conte (Australia) The Zookeepers War Australia Harper Collins
Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings Australia UQP
Sara Knox (Australia) The Orphan Gunner Giramondo
Carol Lefevre (Australia) Nights in the Asylum Picador
Marcella Polain (Australia) The Edge of the World Fremantle Press
Stephen Scourfield (Australia) Other Country Allen & Unwin
The two regional winners will be announced on 13 March 2008, during Commonwealth Week, and will enter the final stage of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize where they will go head to head with the six other regional winners.
In a unique aspect of the Prize, all regional winners will be invited to take part in a week-long programme of readings, community activities and other public events alongside the final pan-Commonwealth judging, in South Africa in May 2008. The week's programme will culminate in the announcement of the overall Best Book and Best First Book winners in a special ceremony as part of the 2008 Franschhoek Literary Festival, in the Cape Winelands District, on Sunday 18 May. The final programme is being run in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa, and the Franschhoek Literary Festival.
£10,000 will be awarded to the author of Overall Best Book, and £5,000 to the author of Best First Book.
The Prize is now in its 22nd year. It is organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation across all four regions.
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For additional information please contact:
Cathrin Preece at Colman Getty
Tel: 020 7631 2666 Email: cathrin@colmangetty.co.uk
or visit the prize website: http://www.commonwalthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/
Notes to Editors
1. The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, established in 1987, is sponsored and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries.
2. The Macquarie Group Foundation is one of Australia's leading philanthropic foundations, contributing A$12.6 million to more than 500 community organisations in the year to 31 March 2007. It is the philanthropic arm of Macquarie Group Limited, which provides investment banking, commercial banking and selected retail financial services throughout the world.
3. Every year, prizes are given for the Best Book and Best First Book, valued at £1,000, in each of the four Commonwealth Regions: Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia, South East Asia and the South Pacific. From these regions, the overall winner for the Best Book and Best First Book prizes are chosen. The 2008 judges are:
Africa
Professor Arthur Gakwandi (Uganda) - Chairperson
Dr Olutoyin Bimpe Jegede (Nigeria)
Maureen Isaacson (South Africa)
Canada and the Caribbean
Dr Michael Bucknor (Jamaica) - Chairperson
Dr Antonia MacDonald-Smythe (St. Lucia)
Mr D Y. Béchard (Canada)
Europe and South Asia
Professor Makarand Paranjape (India) - Chairperson
Professor Neloufer de Mel (Sri Lanka)
Donna Daley-Clarke (UK)
South East Asia and South Pacific
Dr Christine Prentice (New Zealand) - Chairperson
Professor Dennis Haskell (Australia)
Professor Chitra Sankaran (Singapore)
7. The eight regional winners will be invited to attend a special week long literary programme in South Africa in May 2008. The literary programme will take place at the same time as the judging, and will consist of a series of readings, discussions and other public events.
8. The Head of the Commonwealth, HM Queen Elizabeth II, has in the past graciously invited the Best Book Winner for an audience in London.
9. The £10,000 Best Book Prize 2007 was awarded to New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones for Mister Pip. The Best First Book Prize 2007 of £5,000 went to Canadian writer D Y Béchard for Vandal Love.
10. For further information about the Prize: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/ or contact Jennifer Sobol: T. +44 (0)20 7747 6262; E. j.sobol@commonwealth.int
