The Caine Prize for African Writing stands as a prestigious recognition for African short fiction, founded in memory of Sir Michael Caine. Since its inauguration in 2000, the prize has aimed to identify and celebrate a new generation of African writers, marking a significant milestone in African literature.
The prize celebrates English-language short stories by African writers. It is named after Sir Michael Caine, a longtime chairperson of the Booker prize management committee.
Sir Michael Caine, in whose memory the prize was founded.
History and Significance
The Caine Prize for African Writing has played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of African writers for nearly 25 years, offering unmatched global visibility and opportunities, including publishing deals and writing fellowships.
The year 2025 marked the Caine Prize's 25th anniversary. As part of the anniversary celebrations, the Prize collaborates with partners to deliver online and in-person events across the continent and diaspora, spotlighting Caine Prize alumni and their continued contribution to the literary canon.
Read also: Black Nobel Peace Prize Winners
The Best of Caine Award marks a departure from the Prize’s traditional annual cycle. The Best of Caine Award is an honorary prize celebrating the most outstanding winning story from the Prize's 25 year history.
Since its establishment, the Caine Prize has recognized (via its shortlist, winners, annual award and £10,000 prize purse) over 120 talented authors.
For much of its history, the Caine Prize has championed the African short story written in English, by writers based either on the continent or abroad. If anything, the prize has forced readers to think harder about who belongs to an African literary community, and who gets left out when boundaries are drawn too tightly.
The Best of Caine Award 2025
Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo has been honoured as Africa’s best short story writer after winning the Best of Caine Award. The special recognition marks 25 years of the annual Caine Prize for African Writing. An esteemed panel of judges unanimously selected Bulawayo as the standout winner of the 25 stories awarded the prize so far.
Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo was announced as the winner of the Best of Caine award on September 27, 2025, at the inaugural Words Across Waters: Afro Lit Fest at the British Library in London. Bulawayo won the prize for her story "Hitting Budapest," which originally won the Caine Prize in 2011.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
NoViolet Bulawayo, the pen name of Elizabeth Tshele, was born in 1981 in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe. She grew up in the city of Bulawayo, from which she takes part of her literary name. “NoViolet” is in honour of her late mother, Violet.
Flag of Zimbabwe
Hitting Budapest follows a band of children wandering in a decaying urban landscape in search of food. Their journey, told through a fractured, childlike voice, captures both the immediacy of play and the stark realities of deprivation. The story’s unsettling blend of innocence and brutality provoked lively debate when it appeared.
Judges' Remarks
Speaking on the winning story, Prof. Abdulrazak Gurnah said: “It was a tremendously impressive collection of stories to read through, but the decision to award the Best of Caine Prize to NoViolet Bulawayo was unanimous and swift.
Bulawayo was announced as the winner by Ellah Wakatama, the chair of the Caine prize. The judging panel for the Best of Caine award was headed by author and Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, and featured novelist and short story writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and film producer Tony Tagoe.
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Impact on African Literature
Many past Caine winners have gone on to make enduring contributions to African literature. Binyavanga Wainaina, Helon Habila, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Brian Chikwava, Mary Watson, among others.
Beyond the award, the Caine Prize has hosted annual writing workshops in various African cities, helping to nurture local literary communities. Its award ceremonies have been accompanied by efforts to ensure the stories remain accessible to African readers.
Today, more than a dozen African co-publishers distribute the Caine Prize anthologies. These books include each year’s shortlisted stories and workshop entries.
Winners of the Caine Prize
The Caine Prize has recognized numerous talented writers since its inception. Here's a list of winners from 2000 to 2024:
| Year | Winner | Country | Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Leila Aboulela | Sudan | "The Museum" |
| 2001 | Helon Habila | Nigeria | "Love Poems" |
| 2002 | Binyavanga Wainaina | Kenya | "Discovering Home" |
| 2003 | Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor | Kenya | "Weight of Whispers" |
| 2004 | Brian Chikwava | Zimbabwe | "Seventh Street Alchemy" |
| 2005 | Segun Afolabi | Nigeria | "Monday Morning" |
| 2006 | Mary Watson | South Africa | "Jungfrau" |
| 2007 | Henrietta Rose-Innes | South Africa | "Poison" |
| 2008 | Henrietta Rose-Innes | South Africa | "Green Lion" |
| 2009 | EC Osondu | Nigeria | "Waiting" |
| 2010 | Olufemi Terry | Sierra Leone | "Stickfighting Days" |
| 2011 | NoViolet Bulawayo | Zimbabwe | "Hitting Budapest" |
| 2012 | Rotimi Babatunde | Nigeria | "Bombay's Republic" |
| 2013 | Tope Folarin | Nigeria | "Miracle" |
| 2014 | Okwiri Oduor | Kenya | "My Father's Head" |
| 2015 | Namwali Serpell | Zambia | "The Sack" |
| 2016 | Lidudumalingani Mqombothi | South Africa | "Memories We Lost" |
| 2017 | Bushra al-Fadil | Sudan | "The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away" |
| 2018 | Makena Onjerika | Kenya | "Fanta Blackcurrant" |
| 2019 | Lesley Nneka Arimah | Nigeria | "Skinned" |
| 2020 | Irenosen Okojie | Nigeria/UK | "Grace Jones" |
| 2021 | Meron Hadero | Ethiopia/USA | "The Street Sweep" |
| 2022 | Idza Luhumyo | Kenya | "Five Years Next Sunday" |
| 2023 | Mame Bougouma Diene & Woppa Diallo | Senegal | "A Tomb for an Army" |
| 2024 | Nadia Davids | South Africa | "Bridling" |
The five African winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature have supported the Caine Prize as patrons: Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz, J. M. Coetzee and Abdulrazak Gurnah.
Controversies and Criticisms
Controversies endure. The prize’s location in Europe, its emphasis on the short story form, and its role in shaping global perceptions of African literature all remain points of contention.
In 2011, Nigerian-American writer and critic Ikhide Ikheloa criticized the Caine Prize: "The creation of a prize for 'African writing' may have created the unintended effect of breeding writers willing to stereotype Africa for glory. The mostly lazy, predictable stories that made the 2011 shortlist celebrate orthodoxy and mediocrity.
In 2019, a story was removed from the shortlist after "an allegation" led to admission of "the author's failure to attribute a core source".
Even with that noise in the background, the Caine Prize remains the only freestanding and consistent award dedicated solely to African writing.
Bulawayo’s crowning as the best of the lot underscores both the continuity and the evolution of the prize. The Caine Prize has been an imperfect but vital incentive for a new generation of African writers and their often politically charged perspectives.
It has sparked robust discourse, created opportunities, and amplified voices that might have been overlooked.
