Nigerian born author Lesley Arimah has been declared the winner of The 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short stories. Her short story titled Skinned won the Award. This win is coming against the backdrop of her being shortlisted for the Award on three previous occasions.
The Shortlist for this year came alongside Meron Hadero of Ethiopia for ‘The Wall’, Cherrie Kandie of Kenya for ‘Sew My Mouth’, Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti of Cameroon for ‘It Takes A Village Some Say’, and another Nigerian Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor for his work titled ‘All Our Lives’.
Arimah’s story was first published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern (Issue 53). A statement by Caine Prize said, “‘Skinned’ envisions a society in which young girls are ceremonially ‘uncovered’ and must marry in order to regain the right to be clothed. It tells the story of Ejem, a young woman uncovered at the age of fifteen yet ‘unclaimed’ in adulthood, and her attempts to negotiate a rigidly stratified society following the breakdown of a protective friendship with the married Chidinma. With a wit, prescience, and wicked imagination, ‘Skinned’ is a bold and unsettling tale of bodily autonomy and womanhood, and the fault lines along which solidarities are formed and broken.”
In 2016, Arimah was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for her short story which became the title story of her collection of short stories, ‘What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky.’ In 2017, Arimah’s ‘Who Will Greet You At Home’ which was shortlisted for the prize was first published in the New Yorker.
The £10,000 prize is the most prestigious literary award for a short story on the continent. Dr. Peter Kimani, the Chair of Judges when announcing the prize said, “The winner of this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing is a unique retake of women’s struggle for inclusion in a society regulated by rituals.
According to a statement from the judges, Arimah’s Skinned defamiliarizes the familiar to topple social hierarchies, challenge traditions and envision new possibilities for women of the world. Using a sprightly diction, she invents a dystopian universe inhabited by unforgettable characters where friendship is tested, innocence is lost, and readers gain a new understanding of life.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.