Eswatini author wins 2022 Commonwealth short story award
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Loading... - Esther Aluoch
- 05 Aug 2022
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Ntsika Kota has been awarded the 2022 Commonwealth short story prize, making history as the first writer from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to win the prize. He secured it with his ‘And the earth drank deep’ story.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short fiction administered and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Kota’s book was described as a ‘universal story’ for including different cultures and generations. The judges found his story to be a true representation of humanity by portraying the evil and heroism of people.
Kota, from Mbabane, Eswatini, was announced as the winner in an online ceremony on June 21. Second to him came, Sofia Mariah Ma Singapore (for Asia), Cecil Browne United Kingdom/St Vincent and the Grenadines (for Canada and Europe), Diana McCaulay, Jamaica (for the Caribbean), and Mary Rokonadravu, Fiji (for the Pacific).
According to him, he had not imagined himself as a winner of the competition.
“I never really let myself hope to win, let alone expect to. With all the entries, I told myself to be realistic. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I got that call,” he said.
This year’s judging panel was comprised of the Rwandan publisher, Louise Umutoni-Bower, Indian writer Jahnavi Barua, Cypriot-born poet and translator Stephanos Stephanides, award-winning writer Kevin Jared Hosein from Trinidad and Tobago, and Wiradjuri writer, poet and academic from Australia, Jeanine Leane. It was chaired by Guyanese writer, Fred D’Aguiar. Read More…
