Zimbabwean Author, Farai Mudzingwa has been longlisted for the inaugural CANEX Prize, for his debut novel 'Avenues by Train.' Mudzingwa is one of 13 writers who made the longlist from 85 submissions across 10 African countries.
Launched in 2024 the CANEX Prize offers a grand prize of $20,000 to the winner, with each finalist receiving $2,000. It is open to books by publishers based in Africa and published within the preceding year. The award seeks to rally support for the African publishing industry behind books published on the continent.
Here is the selected longlist for the 2024 CANEX Prize:
The Presidents…From Mandela to Ramaphosa, Leadership in the Age of Crisis by Richard Calland and Mabel Sithole, published by Penguin Random House SA
Widows Wear Lipstick: Navigating Grief and Finding Meaning After Loss by Martha Kyoshaba Twinamasiko, published by Leap Book Publishers, Ltd.
Reine Or by Fatou Sy, published by La Case des Lucioles
The Beautiful Side of the Moon by Leye Adenle, published by Ouida Books
Female Fear Factory: Unravelling Patriarchy’s Cultures of Violence by Pumla Dineo Gqola, published by Cassava Republic Press
The Lion’s Historian: Africa’s Animal Past by Sandra Swart, published by Jacana Media (PTY) Ltd
Sanya by Oyin Olugbile, published by Masobe Books
Avenues by Train by Farai Mudzingwa, published by Cassava Republic Press
Paperless by Buntu Siwisa, published by Jacana Media (PTY) Ltd
When We Were Fireflies by Abubakar Ibrahim, published by Masobe Books
Peaches and Smeets by Ashti Juggath, published by Modjaji Books (PTY) Ltd
Half Hour Hara by Ugo Anidi, published by Kachifo Limited
African Odyssey of a Lebanese Emigrant… An Autobiography of Sorts by Habib Jaafar, published by Bookcraft Limited
The recipient of the prize will be presented during CANEX WKND 2024 which is being held from October 16th – October 19th.
Zimbabwean Author Farai Mudzingwa writes fiction, long-form journalism and TV/film scripts. His short fiction has been published by Weaver Press, Kwani?, Writivism, Short Story Day Africa: ID and Mbonga Press.
In 2022 he published the short story Green Shadows in the Kiya Kiya Republic, and his debut novel Avenues by Train was published by Cassava Republic Press in 2023. Earlier this year the novel was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize.
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