2013 Golden Baobab Prizes Winners Announced
2013 Golden Baobab Prizes Shortlist Announced
Accra,Ghana, November 13th, 2013:We are proud to announce the distinguished winners of the 2013 Golden Baobab Prizes:
• Liza Esterhuyse from South Africa who wins Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books with her story, The Little Hippo.
• Karen Hurt, also from South Africa, who wins the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books for her story, What’s Going on at 179 Jabulani Street?.
• Kanengo Rebecca Diallo from Tanzania, who wins the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers for her story, Pieces of Africa. The Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers is given to a young writer who is 18 years and below who shows exceptional literary promise.
The 2013 Golden Baobab Prizes received a total of 180 submissions. The longlist for the Prizes which was announced on 30th August showcased 25 stories selected from 6 African countries. The shortlist followed in early November with 8 stories from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria. This year’s prizes winners represent two countries: South Africa and Tanzania.
This is the fifth year of the Golden Baobab Prizes, which were established in July 2008 to inspire the creation of enthralling, culturally relevant African children’s stories by African writers. The Prizes offer monetary prizes, publishing opportunities for winners of the Picture Book and Early Chapter Book Prizes, and the opportunity for the Rising Writer to be a part of the prestigious panel of judges for the 2014 prizes.
Judges for the 2013 Golden Baobab Prizes include award winning author and founder of the Brunel University African Poetry Prize, Bernardine Evaristo, recipient of the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Contest, Zetta Elliott, African Studies scholar, Esi Sutherland-Addy, IBBY SA Chairperson, Nonikiwe Mashologu, English teacher and researcher, Annette Hansen, and Osayimwinse Osa, founding editor of the Journal of African Children’s and Youth Literature (JACYL).
Last year’s winners of the Golden Baobab Prizes were Joy Nwiyi from Nigeria, Jenny Robson from Botswana and South Africa and Rutendo Chabikwa from Zimbabwe.
