REMEMBERING 2013: TOP LITERARY NEWS

MARCH Great Nigerian Novelist, Poet, Professor & Critic, Chinua Achebe died on the 21^st after a short illness in Boston, Massachusetts (United States). APRIL Tuesday, 23^rd, The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi was announced as the winner of the sixth International Prize for Arabic Fiction. This daring work by the 32 year old Saud, which looks objectively at the phenomenon of foreign workers in Gulf countries, makes him the youngest writer to win the $50,000 Prize. 30^th, British/Somalian, Warsan Shire was presented the inaugural $3,000 Brunel University's African Poetry Prize, which is aimed at unpublished poets with a manuscript of ten poems. UK Literary Magazine, Granta announced its list of the 20 best British novelists under 40 which included Somali born Nadifa Mohammed, Nigerian born Helen Oyeyemi and Taiye Selasi (of Nigerian and Ghanaian heritage). MAY 7^th, Morocco’s Fouad Laroui won the 2013 Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle (a prestigious French literature prize given by the académie Goncourt to the author of the best and most imaginative short story) for his novel “L'étrange affaire du pantalon de Dassoukine.” 14^th, Nigeria’s Dr. Sule E. Egya (aka E.E. Sule) emerged the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize Regional Winner for Africa for his novel “Sterile Sky”. 27^th, Mozambican, Mia Couto was awarded the 25th €100,000 Camões Prize. (The Camões Prize is the most important literary prize for the Portuguese language, often regarded as the Portuguese equivalent of the Nobel Prize) JUNE 3^rd, South African novelist, short story writer, TV scriptwriter and journalist, Lauren Beukes’s third novel, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial-killer and the survivor who turns the hunt around, had its TV rights acquired for an adaptation by MRC (Media Rights Capital) and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way. 15^th, Kenya’s Tony Mochama aka Smitta, a columnist for the Standard Media Group,  emerged winner of the 2013 Burt Award for Literature (a literary prize that recognizes excellence in young adult fiction from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya, with a prize money - ksh795000) for his book, “Meet the Omtitas.” JULY 1^st, Uganda’s Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Project Winner (a new literary prize for unpublished fiction by African writers) for her novel “The Kintu Saga.” Monday 8^th, Nigeria’s Tope Folarin was announced the winner of the 2013 £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story entitled ‘Miracle.’ 16^th, Mauritian Edouard Maunick is shortlisted for the 2014 Neustadt International Prize - a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World Literature Today. It is considered one of the more prestigious international literary prizes, awarded for a writer's entire body of work. SEPTEMBER 10^th, Zimbabwean author, Noviolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names made it on to the Man Booker Prize 2013 Shortlist. 8^th, Half of a Yellow Sun (movie adaptation of the novel by Chimamanda Adichie of the same name) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. 21^st, Ghanaian poet and author, Kofi Awoonor was killed in the attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. OCTOBER 3^rd, Warsan Shire was announced the first Young Poet Laureate for London. 9^th, Lawyer and poet, Tade Ipadeola emerged the winner of the coveted 2013 $100,000 NLNG Literary Prize, October 2013 with his book of poetry, The Sahara Testaments. Chimamanda Adichie & Noviolet Bulawayo were named as one of Foreign Policy's (FP) "Top Global Thinkers of 2013" – Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine. NOVEMBER 1^st, Mozambican author, António Emílio Leite Couto (Mia Couto) received the 2014 $50,000 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.   3^rd, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the 2013 The Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize (a biennial award) for her novel “Americanah”. 19^th – 24^th, the inaugural Ake Arts and Book Festival held at Abeokuta, Ogun State (Nigeria) – it featured the stage adaptation of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin. 28^th, the winners of the Golden Baobab Prizes for African Children's Literature were announced – Winner of the 2013 Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Book: South Africa’s Liza Esterhuyse for The Little Hippo; Winner of the 2013 Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Book: South Africa’s Karen Hurt for What's Going on at 179 Jabulani Street? And Winner of the 2013 Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers: 12 year old Tanzanian, Kanengo Rebecca Diallo for Pieces of Africa. DECEMBER 12^th, Teju Cole appeared on The Verge’s (a New York based news and media network) Top 50 People Who Changed The World in 2013. 13^th, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie made a surprise appearance on Beyoncé's latest album, after her speech at the 2012 TEDxEuston talk, "We should all be feminists" was sampled on the track ***Flawless. Her (Adichie) latest novel – Americanah – jumped from #861 to #179 on Amazon’s top 10,000 best selling books list in 11 days. 23^rd, the innaugural Etisalat Prize for African Literature announced its longlist which included We Need New Names – NoViolet Bulawayo, Bomboy – Yewande Omotoso, Daughters Who Walk this Path – Yejide Kilanko  and The Spider King's Daughter – Chibundu Onuzo.

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