Caine Prize for African Writing
1 appearances
-
Edition 19 (2018) Winner
Makena Onjerika
マケナ・オンジェリカ
Makena Onjerika
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1980s （Kenya）
- Nationality
- Kenyan
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Nairobi, Kenya
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Editor, Workshop founder
- Active Years
- 2010-
- Influenced By
- Binyavanga Wainaina, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Okwiri Oduor
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York University | MFA Creative Writing program | Creative Writing | MFA | — | United States |
New York University
MFA Creative Writing program
/ Creative Writing
Degree:
MFA
Country:
United States
Graduate of NYU's MFA Creative Writing program (year unspecified).
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Caine Prize for African Writing | Fanta Blackcurrant | — | The Caine Prize | Winner |
Caine Prize for African Writing
2018
Work:
Fanta Blackcurrant
Organization:
The Caine Prize
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Fanta Blackcurrant
2017 Short storyA short story set in Nairobi that intertwines the rawness of urban life with family relationships, loss and dark humour, depicting characters' inner lives with subtlety.
Urban lifeFamily and motherhoodLossHumour and sorrow
Bibliography
- "Fanta Blackcurrant" (short story, Wasafiri, 2017)
- Contributions to Urban Confusions
- Editor: Digital Bedbugs (anthology of Nairobi Fiction Writing Workshop)
- Contributor: New Daughters of Africa (2019)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Vivid, visceral descriptionsBlend of humour and melancholyContemporary style focusing on urban details
- Recurring Motifs
- Nairobi urban landscapeWomen and motherhoodConsumer culture and everyday subtleties
Legacy
A Kenyan writer who gained international recognition after winning the 2018 Caine Prize. Based in Nairobi, her fiction and workshop initiatives have contributed to nurturing the next generation of writers.
Quotes
-
"The winner of this year’s Caine Prize is as fierce as they come — a narrative forged but not defined by the streets of Nairobi ... a story that is haunting in its humour, sorrow and intimacy."
Source: Remarks by Dinaw Mengestu, Chair of the Caine Prize judging panel, 2018 award ceremony (2018)
Trivia
- Won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing, becoming the fourth Kenyan recipient of the award.
- The winning story was "Fanta Blackcurrant", published in Wasafiri (2017).
- The prize was reported to be £10,000.
- Founded the Nairobi Fiction Writing Workshop and edited the anthology 'Digital Bedbugs'.