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    Wednesday, May 1, 2019

    Nigerian Authors Oyinkan Braithwaite & Diana Evans are Finalists for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction

    L-R: Diana Evans and Oyinkan Braithwaite: finalists in Women’s Prize for Fiction
    Back in March, three Nigerian authors — Oyinkan Braithwaite, Akwaeke Emezi and Diana Evans — made the longlist for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

    The longlist has finally been narrowed down, and the final shortlist includes Oyinkan Braithwaite for My Sister, the Serial Killer and Diana Evans for Ordinary People, making them the fifth and sixth Africans to be finalists for the prestigious prize.

    The Women’s Prize for Fiction, previously known as the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Baileys Women’s Prize For Fiction, is one of the most prestigious literature awards in the world.
    In March, Braithwaite and Evans made the long-list alongside Akwaeke Emezi who, unfortunately, was not shortlisted.

    This is the first time that two African authors will be shortlisted the same year. Braithwaite was nominated for her book ‘My Sister, The Serial Killer’ and Evans for ‘Ordinary People’.
    Other shortlisted authors include Pat Barker for ‘The Silence of the Girls’, Anna Burns for ‘Milkman’, Tayari Jones for ‘An American Marriage’ and Madeline Miller for ‘Circe’.

    The previous Africans on the shortlist include Nigeria’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in 2004, 2007 and 2014; the Sierra Leonean-Scottish novelist, Aminatta Forna in 2011; the Ghanaian-Canadian writer, Esi Edugyan in 2012; and Nigeria’s Ayobami Adebayo in 2017.
    The prestigious prize has honoured many great authors since it was launched in 1996, including Chimamanda Adichie, who won in 2007 for ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’.
    It is a significant career boost and it comes with a £30,000 ($40,000) prize.

    It was created after the Bookers Prize of 1991 where none of the six shortlisted books was by a woman, despite 60 per cent of novels that year being published by female authors.
    Chaired by Prof. Kate Williams, the 2019 judging panel includes journalists Dolly Alderton and Arifa Akbar, anti-FGM activist Leyla Hussein.
    Sarah Wood OBE, the chair and co-founder of the global video advertising marketplace, Unruly, was also on the panel.
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