Nigerian-British author, Irenosen Okojie is the recipient of this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story titled “Grace Jones”. The short story appears in Okojie’s 2019 collection titled, Nudibranch and follows a Grace Jones impersonator in the aftermath of a family tragedy. Irenosen Okojie will also be awarded ￡10,000 which the Caine Prize awards annually to an African writer.
photo via bbc
In a statement, director of the Africa Centre, Kenneth Olumuyiwa said Okojie’s story,
Plays with logic, time and place; it defies convention, as it unfolds a narrative that is multi-layered and multi-dimensional. It is risky, dazzling, imaginative, and bold; it is intense and full of stunning prose; it’s also a story that reflects African consciousness in the way it so seamlessly shifts dimensions, and it’s a story that demonstrates extraordinary imagination. Most of all, it is world-class fiction from an African writer.
Irenosen Okojie is also the author of the novel Butterfly Fish and a second short story collection titled, Speak Gigantular.