Jungfrau and other short stories Caine Prize for African Writing 7th African Collection

The Caine prize for African Writing is Africa’s leading literary prize, and is awarded to a work (a short story) by an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere. Each year the winning story and shortlisted entries are collected and published in one volume.

The 7th winner is Mary Watson from South Africa for Jungfrau. Chairman of the Judges, Dr Nana Wilson-Tagoe said of Jungfrau, “It is a powerfully written narrative that works skilfully through a child’s imagination to suggest a world of insights about familial and social relationships in the new South Africa. It is superbly written and does what a short story should do, by leaving spaces around its narrative in which readers can enter again and again”.

This story along with the other shortlisted stories and work from the Caine prize writers’ workshop are all collected in this volume.

About the Caine Prize: Known as the ‘African Booker’ the Caine Prize for African Writing brings together some of the best talent in African writing. Previous winners include Leila Aboulela, whose subsequent novels have been broadcast on BBC Radio and longlisted for the Orange prize, and Helon Habila who has published several novels since winning the Caine Prize.