The Caine Prize is the most prestigious prize for African literature on the Continent. The award is named in memory of the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker plc. He was Chairman of Africa 95, and Chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for almost 25 years.

For more about the Caine Prize, click here.

Cassava Republic Press is proud to be associated with the Caine Prize. We have now published the 2009 and 2010 Caine Prize collections.

Caine Prize 2010

A nightmare vision of life inside a security fence...A group of priests facing their faith amid civil war...A white girl discovering the secrets of the African world around her...Desperate romance against the backdrop of a tyrannous forced marriage....Warrior ethics among boys who live on a rubbish dump...

The shortlisted stories for the 2010 Caine Prize - often referred to as the 'African Booker Prize' - offer five memorable snapshots of life on the African continent in all its diversity.  The shortlisted authors are:

Ken Barris (South Africa) - for The Life of Worm

Lily Mabura (Kenya) - for How Shall We Kill the Bishop?

Namwali Serpell (Zambia) for Muzungu

Alex Smith (South Africa) for Soulmates

Olufemi Terry (Sierra Leone) for Stickfighting Days

In addition, acclaimed novelists such as Jude Dibia (Nigeria), Gill Schierhout (South Africa) and Valerie Tagwira (Zimbabwe) took part with nine other up-and-coming African writers at the CDC Caine Prize Writers' Workshop, held in Kenya, each producing a special story for this volume.

In all, these 17 stories show the richness and range of current writing on the continent.  They underline the primacy of the short story, with its oral antecedents, at the very heart of African literature.

Caine Prize 2009

The Jambula Tree and Other Stories is the eighth collection from the Caine Prize for African Writing, Africa's leading literary prize. The prize is awarded to a short story by an African writer living in Africa or elsewhere. Each year the winning story and short-listed entries are collected and published in one volume. Read more