Big little breakthroughs

Macmillan's launch of a new prize for African literature holds promise for the continent's writers, says Gamal Nkrumah, who also speaks to Leila Aboulela, one of the judges
To the budding African writer the start of the 21st century must look disconcerting. There was a time in the early 1960s when an air of optimism was possible, an exuberance that coincided with the shaking off of the hated colonial yoke. That decade might be considered the golden age of African writing. Yet the turbulent political situation and harsh economic realities that followed have taken their toll on African creative writing. The mood has soured. Writers, publishers and critics trade insults and point accusing fingers at one other as they seek to allocate blame for current sorry state of affairs.
It is against this bleak backdrop that Macmillan, the leading supplier of educational books in Africa, launched four Macmillan Writers' Prizes for Africa in January.
"African literature has been neglected in the past few decades and this is why initiatives like the Macmillan prizes are a wonderful boost," Leila Aboulela, one of the six members of the all-African judging panel for the new Macmillan prizes, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
But is there any contradiction between conveying an authentic African experience and writing in a European language (the Macmillan prize invites submissions in English)?
Aboulela is adamant: "I myself write in English and that does not make my writing any less authentic."
Born in Cairo of a Sudanese father and an Egyptian mother, Abulela was raised in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and frequently returns for short visits to both Egypt and Sudan. She recently moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, after a 10 year sojourn in Aberdeen, Scotland, and was the first recipient of the $15,000 Caine Prize for African Writing last year for her debut Museums. Like the Caine Prize, named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former chairman of the prestigious Booker Prize management committee, the four categories of the Macmillan prize are open to writers hailing from any country in Africa. However, unlike Caine's, Macmillan's is not open to African diaspora hopefuls.
There are four categories for the Macmillan Writer's Prize, to be awarded on a biennial basis: Children's Literature Junior for stories for ages 8 to 12; Children's Literature Senior for stories written for ages 13 to 17; a Special Award for the Most Promising New Children's Writer and an Adult Fiction Award.
Does the sudden emergence of the Caine and Macmillan prizes indicate a return of Afrophoria?
"Prizes do bring writers to public notice. African writing needs more exposure and prizes are an effective way of bringing the newest and best of African literature to the public's attention," Abulela explained.
"Our aim is to stimulate authorship and debunk the myth that publishers are a hinderance to creativity," concurred David Muita, managing director of Macmillan (Kenya). Mutia lamented the "poor quality" of most of the works he receives.
"The economic situation in many African countries does not enable young writers to sit down and concentrate on their work," explained Moses Isegama, author of Abyssinian Chronicles, published by Picador, the Macmillan imprint.
"Nor is there much of a scholarly apparatus to assit the researcher in following the development of the African short story," added Stephen Gray, South African-born writer with the Johannesburg-based Mail and Guardian.
A brighter future, though, may well be beckoning as writers, undeterred by unfavourable conditions, soldier on.
"I am delighted that we are launching this significant new prize. Picador has a great reputation as a publisher of outstanding international writing and there is some important literature being produced in Africa today which deserves a much wider audience. I hope this prize contributes to making that happen," said Peter Straus of Picador.
Other publishers stress the profusion of modern African writing and highlight new trends.
"Children's literature is an exciting area of publishing in Africa, and the last 20 years have seen a big increase in books that are colourful, child-oriented and sensitive to cultural needs," Alison Hubert, publishing director of Macmillan Education pointed out.
Macmillan's is "the only literary prize that will reward various levels of creative endeavours. No other literary prize in Africa, except the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, caters for children's books even though this category of creative output is the most crucial for the continent's development," notes Nana Wilson-Tagoe, a Ghanaian national, professor of African and Caribbean literature at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a panelist with long experience of judging African literary prizes.
Award winning South African judge Beverley Naidoo also praised Macmillan's groundbreaking endeavour. Naidoo, a creative writing teacher who led children's workshops in Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria, emphasised the importance of acquainting young readers with the horrors of life in apartheid South Africa in her celebrated Journey to Jo'burg,.
There are, says Naidoo, clear distinctions between writers in the West who tend to be "individually focused" and African writers who "connect the 'personal' to wider social, political contexts and themes. [African writers] know that their characters are not just a collection of individuals -- and that society matters."
Another judge, Wilson-Tagoe's compatriot Meshak Asare, winner of the Noma prize in 1982 and the 1999 UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance, agreed.
"Creativity is only nudged forward by challenge. Awards provide challenge, higher goals, incentive and inspiration, all the conditions necessary for raising existing standards, uncovering talent and advancing creativity," says Asare.
'Highlighting African writing'
By Leila Aboulela
"With Moses Isegawa, I will be looking at the Adult Fiction Award. This award will be given to a partial manuscript of an original work of fiction in English for adult readers. The partial manuscript, which should be a maximum of 5,OOO words, can be from either a completed but unpublished novel or a novel in progress.
"Because I will be reading only an extract of 5,OOO words, I will have to feel at the end of the reading that I am eager to read the whole novel. The winning extract will have to be compelling, confidently written and suggestive of more to come -- it should not have the completeness of a short story and actually short stories will not be accepted for the Adult Fiction Award.
I will be looking for atmosphere, skill, and that special ingredient, enchantment, that comes with good art. What I read will have to pull me into the fictional world of the novel, bond me with the main character or characters and hint at what the novel is about. It is actually a challenge to do this in 5,OOO words and I am looking forward to reading the talented writer who is going to achieve this." The media also has a vital role to play in highlighting African writing. The interest of Al-Ahram Weekly in this prize is very important in order to encourage North African writers to submit their work. Yes, many people consider Africa proper to begin south of the Sahara, but I would be even more worried if North African writers did not submit their entries to this prize because they did not consider themselves to be Africans.
"In terms of publishing, Heinemann's African Writers Series is predominately sub-Saharan but they have published the work of the Egyptian writer Alifa Rifaat and their anthologies have included North African writers like myself, Assia Djebar and Leila Sabbar. The African Writers Series also includes the Sudanese classic, Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North, translated from the original Arabic by Denys Johnson- Davies.
The Macmillan prize is open to all Africans and the criteria for judging is literary merit regardless of the nationality or background of the writers.
"It is important for [African readers south of the Sahara] to get to know more about North African writing and it is also important for North African readers to get to know more about sub-Saharan writing. It is a disappointing fact that we as Africans seem to know more about the West -- through literature but mainly through the cinema -- than we know about each other.
It is debatable whether North African literature is considered African or not. One can also debate whether white South African writing is European or African. One can also debate whether Sudanese literature is African or Arab. However, in practical terms, as far as I am aware, new initiatives to support African writing include the whole of Africa: The Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa is open to all nationals or naturalised citizens of any of the countries which make up the continent of Africa.
"The Zimbabwe Book Festival, the largest such event south of the Sahara, has just launched the endeavour AFRICAN IMPACT, a compilation of Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century. Books by African writers written in African Languages or Arabic, English, French or Portuguese, are eligible for nomination. The project defines an African writer as 'someone either born in Africa or who became a citizen of an African country'. This major project, which will certain highlight African writing and bring it to the attention of the world, is welcoming nominations until September 2001 and a panel of judges will decide on the winning 100 Books next year.
Further details of the Macmillan prize are available from Macmillan Publishers Limited, 15 Kamal Al-Shafei St, Midan Safir, Heliopolis, Cairo. Tel:414 5726. Fax: 415 6441. The deadline for submissions is 1 June.
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