The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced the five judges for the 2018 Prize. Georgetown University’s nomination to the panel, Dinaw Mengestu, will serve as the Chair of judges. An award winning Ethiopian-American novelist and writer, Dinaw is the former Chair in Poetry at the Lannan Foundation at Georgetown.
He will be joined by: Henrietta Rose-Innes, South African author and winner of the 2008 Caine Prize; Lola Shoneyin, award winning author and Director of the Ake Arts and Books Festival; Alain Mabanckou, world-renowned writer and Professor of Literature at UCLA; and Ahmed Rajab, a Zanzibar-born international journalist, political analyst and essayist.
Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a reputation as an adventurous, humorous and outspoken poet , having published three volumes of poetry.
In April 2014 she was named on the list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she runs the annual Ake arts and Books Festival.
The judging panel will meet in April 2018 to determine which entries will make the shortlist.
For the second time in the 19 year history of the Caine Prize, the award will be announced on Monday 2 July at Senate House, London, in collaboration with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
