Meet the Only 2 African Women Shortlisted for this Year’s Booker Prize!

 

Meet the only 2 authors of African descent to be shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction – Tsitsi Dangarembga and Maaza Mengiste! Dangarembga is a Zimbabwean author whose book – ‘The Mournable Body‘ is focused on the obstacles faced by women in Zimbabwe.

And Mengiste is the Ethiopian-American author of ‘The Shadow King‘ which focuses on Ethiopia’s women warriors during the Italian occupation.

The books are contending against 13 other Authors who were shortlisted from 162 entries. The winner will receive £50,000 and can expect international recognition. The shortlisted authors will also receive £2,500 each, and a specially bound edition of their book. Dangarembga and Mengiste are the only two writers from Africa on the list of 6 authors.

Other shortlisted authors include: “The New Wilderness” by Diane Cook; “Burnt Sugar” by Avni Doshi; “Shuggie Bain” by Douglas Stuart and “Real Life” by Brandon Taylor.

The Booker Prize for fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom. This recognition has been won by three Africans – Nadine Gordimer, Ben Okri, and J. M. Coetzee.

Congratulations to the amazing women!