2018 Golden Baobab Prize Offers Multiple Awards and No Winner

Golden Baobab has announced the awards for the 2018 Golden Baobab Prize. This year marks 10 years since the prestigious pan-African children’s literary award was set up to celebrate and support talented African writers and illustrators. To date the Prize has inspired submissions of over 2,000 new and original African children’s stories and illustrations and offered substantial monetary awards as well as publishing opportunities.

Entering a decade since its establishment, this year’s Golden Baobab Prize presented a specific focus on publishing. This was reflected in the Prize’s jury which was a panel of prominent international publishing and literacy professionals. According to the Golden Baobab Prize administration, the mandate for this year’s jury was to find writers whose manuscripts were publishing ready and versatile illustrators whose styles showed evidence that they could create work for a wide audience of children. After a lengthy deliberation process, the jury announces that the 2018 Golden Baobab Prize will offer multiple awards but no winner. The jury concluded that the top entries of the literature prize were more ready for editorial support and mentorship than they were ready for publication. For the illustrator prize, while there were strong entries the jury did not find illustrations that met this year’s criteria.

The 2018 Golden Baobab Prize jury has selected four stories for the shortlist and awarded them a prize package of editorial support, in addition to connections to publishing opportunities. It has selected for one illustrator for the shortlist commending them for their creative interpretation of the illustration briefs provided. The 2018 Shortlist are:

• The Clock Can’t Jump Through Time by Adeola Adeyemo (Nigeria) for the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books

• Think Before You Act, Kuku! by Thandazile Sakhile Mpofu (Zimbabwe) for the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books 

• Keeper of the Gates by David Kwakye (Ghana) for the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books

• The Era of the Afrocubs by Ayo Oyeku (Nigeria) for the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books: 

• Elizabeth Jeffery (South Africa) for the Golden Baobab Prize for African Illustrators

Speaking on this announcement, Golden Baobab’s Executive Director, Deborah Osei-Agyekum said: “We support the jury’s decision for the Golden Baobab Prize to announce no winner for 2018 but rather offer awards to multiple entrants. The cash award from this year's Prize will be rolled into future years with an increased focus on publishing. Over the past 10 years, the Golden Baobab Prize has successfully matched talented African writers and illustrators to publishing opportunities for children's books and we are committed to do more. Stories and illustrators from the Golden Baobab Prize have gone on to be published by African Bureau Stories, Penguin Random House South Africa, Oxford University Press, Quramo Publishing and Cassava Republic Press among others."