Saturday, June 8, 2013

Caine Prize thoughts

I just finished reading and rereading all the five 2013 Caine Prize nominated stories. Wow, the writers all blew me away with the first-rate quality of their writing. It was a wonderful literary feast for the written word hungry like me. Hmmm, I feel sorry for those Caine prize judges! Picking a winner will be the most difficult job for them. I started with Chinelo Okparanta’s beautiful Lesbianism/oil spill story, “America,” and I was like, “She’ll win it.” Then Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s “The Whispering Trees” left me breathless and at the same level with Chinelo’s “America.” Next, I read Tope Folarin’s church set, “Miracle” and the blind prophet made me think of T.B Joshua. Elnathan John’s “Bayan Layi” about political tension and looting in northern Nigeria was cool but I think I enjoyed Pede Hollist’s “Foreign Aid” even more. So which is my favourite? Em, Abubakar, em, Chinelo. I’m rooting for both of them at once. I’ll combine their names, I’m rooting for Chinelo Abubakar, lol, closely followed by Pede Hollist. But no matter who wins, a Caine Prize nomination itself is a very big victory. So, kudos to all of them for a job well done!


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