Alert! The Miles Morland Foundation has announced the shortlist for the 2015 Morland Writing Scholarships, including seven South Africans.
21 applicants have made the shortlist, including six from Nigeria, three from Ghana, two from Uganda, and one each from Zimbabwe, Egypt and Sudan.
The foundation received 345 entries this year. Michela Wrong, literary director, said, “This was fewer than last year but I felt the overall standard was higher.
“Now that the scholarships are better known we are attracting some of the best African writers. Some of the entries left me almost breathless. I am confident our four scholarships will yield four outstanding books.”
Wrong added, however, that the foundation was disappointed not to receive entries from a greater variety of African countries.
“There are many talented writers in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and other countries,” she said. “We did have entries from them but none that made the shortlist. We would encourage people writing in English from all over Africa to apply in future years.”
2015 Morland Writing Scholarships shortlist
Fatin Abbas (Sudan)
Ayobami Adebayo (Nigeria)
Ayesha Harruna Attah (Ghana)
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond (Ghana)
Kurt Ellis (South Africa)
Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria)
Amy Heydenrych (South Africa)
Mishka Hoosen (South Africa)
Karen Jennings (South Africa)
Beatrice Lamwaka (Uganda)
Kopano Mabaso (South Africa)
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda)
Kagiso Lesego Molope (South Africa)
Cheryl Ntumy (Ghana)
Bolaji Odofin (Nigeria)
Mary Ononokpono (Nigeria)
Ladi Opaluwa (Nigeria)
Megan Ross (South Africa)
Noo Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria)
Wiam El-Tamami (Egypt)
Blessing-Miles Tendi (Zimbabwe)
It is a big month for Kurt Ellis, whose book By Any Means was recently longlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature.
Karen Jennings is the author of Finding Soutbek, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Etisalat Prize, and a short story collection, Away from the Dead.
Kopano Mabaso’s Coconut (as Kopano Matlwa) achieved instant legend status when it was published in 2008. Mabaso followed that up with Spilt Milk in 2010.
Kagiso Lesego Molope is the author of Dancing in the Dust.
Literature lovers will be delighted to see Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi on the list. The Ugandan author won the Kwani? Manuscript Prize for Kintu in 2013, as well as the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Earlier this year Binyavanga Wainaina told Books LIVE that Kintu was an “incredible novel” that is “going places”.
Cheryl Ntumy is the author of a number of Sapphire Press romance novels, and Crossing, which was published in Botswana in 2010 and won the 2009 Bessie Head Literature Award.
Prufrock magazine congratulated the shortlist on Facebook:
Congratulations to Prufrock contributor Megan Ross, who has been shortlisted for this year’s Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship, which is Worth A Lot of Money.
Ross’ piece on the 2014 Thailand coup d’état appeared in Prufrock 7, while her short story “The Mechanics of Bruising”, is out now in our latest issue.
Modjaji Books also congratulated the candidates:
So proud to be associated with 3 of the shortlistees who have worked for Modjaji (as a book designer) Megan Ross and (interns) Karen Jennings and Mishka Hoosen. Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers. Such a fabulous list of writers.
Judges Ellah Allfrey (chair), Olufemi Terry and Muthoni Garland will meet on 14 December to discuss the shortlist. Four winners will be announced shortly after this.
Scholarship winners writing fiction will receive a grant of £18 000 (about R380 000), paid over the course of 12 months. Scholars writing non-fiction will receive a grant of £27 000 (about R572 000), paid over the course of 18 months.
Previous winners of the Morland Writing Scholarship include Percy Zvomuya, Yewande Omotoso and Ahmed Khalifa.
Book details
- Bom Boy by Yewande Omotoso
EAN: 9781920397357
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- Egyptian Gothic: Stories From The Land of Pharaohs and Revolutions by Ahmed Khalifa
ASIN: B00AVZZ5N6
- Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara by Various Authors
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EAN: 9781408854679
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- By Any Means by Kurt Ellis
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EAN: 9780798166003
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- Finding Soutbek by Karen Jennings
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EAN: 9781907320200
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- Coconut by Kopano Matlwa
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EAN: 9781770093362
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- Spilt Milk by Kopano Matlwa
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EAN: 9781770097919
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- Dancing in the Dust by Kagiso Lesego Molope
EAN: 9781894770019
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- Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
EAN: 9789966159892
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- Powder Necklace by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
EAN: 9781439126103
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- Saturday’s Shadows by Ayesha Harruna Attah
EAN: 9789462380431
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- Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa
EAN: 9781847083319
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- Making History in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe : Politics, Intellectuals and the Media by Tendi Blessing-Miles
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EAN: 9783039119899
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