Nyabola Prize for Science and Speculative Fiction in Kiswahili, 2021
Shortlist announcement
The shortlist for the Nyabola Prize in Science and Speculative Fiction, in partnership with the Mabati- Cornell Kiswahili Prize African Literature was announced today November 17, 2021 by the judges committee.
The youth writing prize, founded in 2021 by Nanjala Nyabola, has the express goal of recognizing short fiction in Kiswahili with the intention of promoting the vocabulary of science and technology in Kiswahili. Writers were encouraged to use science and speculative fiction to demonstrate the use of vocabularies of technology in Kiswahili. “We are very encouraged by the volume of stories we received and with such a breadth of themes. It was a great first experience for us and we hope the prize only grows stronger,” said Ms. Nyabola.
The shortlisted works and authors are (in alphabetical order of last name and translations are provided where possible):
- Sofi Binsari (Kenya) Dunia ya Pili
- Twihuvila Gillah (Kenya) Pigo Zito
- Hussna Mohamed Hassan (Tanzania) Afriti Hasitiki
- Stallone Joyfully (Tanzania) Dubwasha
- Emmanuel Kimeu (Kenya) Sayari Ya Wanawake
- Hassan Omar Mambosasa (Tanzania) Mashine
- Haruni Manigu (Tanzania) Ustaarabu Wa Sayari Ya Sadiza
- Charles John Mlowezi (Tanzania) Kamera Ya Mtoisa
- Shabani Omari Molito (Tanzania) Mgeni Kutoka Sayari Nyekundu
- Florence Chanya Mwaita (Kenya) Miongo Mia Moja
Selected from 147 entries the submissions were read by judges including Dr. Hamisi Babusa, professor of Kiswahili at Kenyatta University. “Some of the stories came from unexpected places and it is very good
to see Kiswahili becoming popular even with people for whom it is not a first language,” said Dr. Babusa. The final prize winners will be announced in January 2022 and an anthology of the top twenty stories is expected later in the year.
Notes to Editors
The Prize is primarily supported by Ms. Nyabola through the Stanford Digital Civil Society Fellowship and administered in partnership with the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature.
Judges 2021
Dr. Hamisi Babusa is a Lecturer of Kiswahili and Language Education. He has taught in different universities including St. Lawrence University, in CANTON, NY, USA. He is currently an administrator and lecturer at Kenyatta University. Apart from lecturing, Dr. Babusa is a creative and academic writer. He has written several dictionaries including Kamusi Teule, Dictionary of English and Kiswahili Equivalent Proverbs among others. He has also contributed several short stories and poems to anthologies. Dr. Babusa has also written children novellas like the BINTI KITABU series and the MAKUMBA Series. He is the first Kiswahili author to write Kiswahili science fiction stories. He was awarded as one of the top twenty scientists in Kenya in 2018 for his literary contribution through the MAKUMBA Series. In addition, he is the founder and CEO of BABUSA TV an online TV channel teaching Kiswahili to kids through animations and songs.
Nanjala Nyabola is a writer and a political analyst based in Nairobi Kenya. She is the author of “Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya” (Zed Books, 2018) and “Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move” (Hurst, 2020).
The Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize – The Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction 2021 in Kiswahili/ Tuzo ya Nyabola Uandishi Wa Hadithi za Kisayansi na Kidhana kwa Lugha ya Kiswahili
The Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature is proud to announce a special award for 2021 for youth writing science fiction and speculative fiction in Kiswahili, for writers aged between 18 and 35. In partnership with writer and political analyst, Nanjala Nyabola, the award is designed to promote and popularise a Kiswahili vocabulary for technology and digital rights, in order to empower citizens in Kiswahili-speaking communities to participate in broader conversations on the issues.
The stories should be originally written in Standard Kiswahili and between 2000 and 2500 words long. The prize structure is as follows:
First prize: $1000
Second prize: $500
Third Prize: $250
Top 10 stories will be published as an anthology.
Submissions should be marked as ‘Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction entries’ and should be sent to: kiswahiliprize@cornell.edu by 31 May 2021
“Literary prizes not only highlight fresh talent but also encourage and inspire others to take to the pen, while showing readers the beauty, richness and malleability of their language, and giving them the tools to describe and participate in new frontiers”, says Munyao Kilolo of the Mabati Cornell Prize.
Nyabola adds, “science fiction and speculative fiction, including sub-genres like African Futurism, inspire young people to break the boundaries of imagination and imagine better futures. Science fiction and speculative fiction has inspired actual innovations in AI (Artificial Intelligence), tech ethics and political ethics, as well as spurred healthy critiques of political trajectories, for instance Isaac Asimov’s Three Rules of Robotics, and George Orwell’s exploration of the surveillance state in 1984”. Indeed, some of the most notable developments in the modern world were first inspired by science and speculative fictions.
Over 140 million people speak Kiswahili in Eastern and Southern Africa and it is the most widely spoken African language in the world. Although there is a long history of cultural production in Kiswahili, and popular poets and writers also write in Kiswahili, there has been some delay in both translating and popularising the grammar and lexicon of technology in Kiswahili, similar to many languages other than English. Yet without such a popular lexicon, developments in technology continue to leave African communities at the margins: speaking about and for them but not with them. Kiswahili is an established world language with tremendous symbolic and practical applications, and it is important to encourage initiatives that keep Kiswahili speakers apace with the rapid developments that are happening in technology.
The goal of this Prize therefore is to inspire boundary breaking creativity in the next generation of fiction writers in Kiswahili, while popularising a lexicon for technology and digital rights in the language.
Workshops
To support participants, organisers will host 3 workshops on writing speculative fiction and about technology in Kiswahili for participants in March, April and May 2021. These virtual workshops are not mandatory but will offer tips and give tools to boost the confidence of those who may be interested in writing for the Prize.
For more information, please contact Munyao Kilolo or Nanjala Nyabola via kiswahiliprize@cornell.edu