2021 Winners

MABATI-CORNELL KISWAHILI PRIZE FOR AFRICAN LITERATURE

 

Announcement of 2021 winners

 

The winners of the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2021 were announced at a special ceremony on 27th of January 2022 at the Milimani City Conference Center in Dar es Salaam, where His Excellency Kassim Majaliwa, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania was the guest of honour. The winners were announced by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Abdilatif Abdalla. The guests of honour also included Mr. Anders Lindgren the Safal Group CEO, Hon. Mohammed Omar Mchengerwa (MP) the Minister of Art, Culture & Sports and Hon. Amos Makalla the Regional Commissioner of Dar es Salaam.

The prize was founded in 2014 by Dr. Lizzy Attree (Short Story Day Africa) and Prof. Mukoma Wa Ngugi (Cornell University) and has the express goal of recognizing writing in African languages and encouraging translation from, between and into African languages.

Winners:

The judges; Prof. Aldin K. Mutembei, Dr. Salma Omar Hamad and Dr. Joseph N. Maitaria, selected Halfani Sudy’s “Kirusi Kipya” (“New Virus”) as the winner in the Fiction Category, and Moh’d Omar Juma’s “Chemichemi Jangwani” (“Water Spring in the Desert”) as the winner in the Poetry category.

The second-place winner in the fiction category was Lucas Lubago, who wrote a novel titled, Bweni la Wasichana (The Girls’ Dormitory).

As was announced when the prize was founded, the Runner’s Up Prize can be in any category. For this reason, the judges awarded Mbwana Kidato’s work, titled “Sinaubi”, which they described as a new form of writing a runner up position. The judges said, “This work presents a new form of writing. While it is highly creative, it is neither a novel, nor a play. In it you will find prose writing (as in a novel) and then there are interactions and dialogue between the characters (like in a play). That is why we gave this work a special place among the winners.”

The winners in each category received 5000 American dollars while the runners up received 2500 dollars.

As earlier announced, Hafidh Athumani Kido was shortlisted in the fiction category for “Kanzu ya Ukubwa” (“The Robe of Greatness”). Both Msusa Mohamedi Msusa and Mfaume Hamisi Mfaume were shortlisted in the poetry category for “Malenga wa Masasi” (“A Poet from Masasi”) and “Sinaye Baba” (“I Have no Father”) respectively.

Both the winners and their fellow shortlistees were in attendance during the award giving ceremony in Dar es Salaam.

Halfani Sudy, born in 1989, is a novelist from the Lindi region in KILWA district in Tanzania. He has written novels since 2014, and has published Penzi Chungu (A Bitter Love), Farida, Kipepeo Mwekundu (The Red Butterfly), Kanda ya Siri (The Secret Zone) and Msako Hatari (The Dangerous Search). Currently, Halfani Sudy is the head of the social welfare department at New Mafinga Health College, an Allied Institute located in Mafinga town, Iringa region, where he also serves as a social work teacher.

Mohammed Omar Juma was born in 1986 in Wambaa village, a region located in the southern part of Pemba. He started his undergraduate studies in Arts and Teaching (B.A. ED) in 2011 at the Morogoro Islamic University studying Kiswahili and English Education. He currently teaches Kiswahili and English at Minazini Secondary School in Kigamboni Municipal Council, Dar es Salaam and is also studying for a Master’s degree in Education Administration, Planning and Policy Training (MED APPS) at the Open University of Tanzania.

Notes to Editors

The Prize is primarily supported by Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya (a subsidiary of the Safal Group), The Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs at Cornell University, the Africana Studies Center at Cornell University and the Ngugi wa Thiong’o Foundation.

The Safal Group  (which include Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd of Kenya and ALAF Limited in Tanzania) is the largest producer of Steel Roofing on the African continent with 36 operations in 12 countries. www.safalgroup.com

Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd (MRM) is the largest producer of steel roofing in Kenya. Established more than 50 years ago, the company is a leading innovator in its field. MRM led Africa in the manufacture of coated steel using the most advanced corrosion protection technology available worldwide, and its roofing brands are household names which are known and trusted by millions of consumers. www.mabati.com

The Safal MRM Foundation, based in Kenya, is a philanthropic enterprise of Mabati Rolling Mills and the Safal Group. It founded, and continues to fully manage, both the Mabati Technical Training Institute, and the Mabati Medical Centre, both in Mariakani, Kenya. safalmrmfoundation.org

ALAF Limited (ALAF) is Tanzania’s leading steel roofing manufacturer. Established in 1960, ALAF has always, and continues to be, a key player in the development of the country’s construction sector. ALAF is a fully integrated operation, not only making steel roofing, but also producing the metal coated coils used by these roofing operations. ALAF manufactures metal tubing and piping for various applications. alaf.co.tz

The Africana Studies and Research Center enriches the academic, cultural, and social environments on the Cornell University Ithaca campus. Website: http://www.asrc.cornell.edu

Mkuki na Nyota Publishers is an independent, vibrant Tanzanian imprint publishing relevant, progressive, liberating, affordable and entertaining content.  Established in 1991, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers emerged in response to the general absence of high quality, independent publishing in Tanzania. Its mission statement is to publish, “Relevant Books, Affordable Books, and Beautiful Books.” They have successfully published 2017 poetry winner, Dotto Rangimoto’s Mwanangu Rudi Nyumbani (December 2018) and published Ali Hilal Ali’s novel Mmeza Fupa (January 2019). http://www.mkukinanyota.com

East African Educational Publishers is one of Africa’s leading publishers.  EAEP strives to juggle the seemingly contradicting values of publishing works of enduring value cutting across the social, cultural, political and economic spectrum of society and at the same time excelling as a viable business that is ready to face the realities and vagaries of the technology age.  They published 2015 winners A.S. Manyanza and Enock Maregesi’s novels Penzi la Damu and Kolonia Santita in 2016.  http://www.eastafricanpublishers.com

The Africa Poetry Fund promotes and advances the development and publication of the poetic arts through its book series, contests, workshops, and seminars and through its collaborations with publishers, festivals, booking agents, colleges, universities, conferences and all other entities that share an interest in the poetic arts of Africa. Website: http://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Foundation is powered by the interest and passion to raise the visibility of African Languages in Kenya, Africa and the world, as vehicles for performance, creativity, innovations, and scholarship. It sees African languages as the new intellectual frontier in everything from culture, biological sciences, technology and medicine. http://ngugiwathiongofoundation.org

Board of Trustees: Abdilatif Abdalla (Chair), Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Lizzy Attree, Walter Bgoya, Henry Chakava, Chege Githiora, Clarissa Vierke, Farouk Topan, Carole Boyce Davies, and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.

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