The Longlist for the 2022 Kendeka Prize for African Literature was released on the 1st of September, 2022.

Now in its second edition, the Kendeka Prize for African Literature aims to nurture new and exciting writers on the African continent. Thereby, awarding the best unpublished short story—either fiction or creative non-fiction—the Kendeka Prize for African Literature.

The first edition was founded by the Kenyan writer Andrew Maina and the Botswana writer Jenny Robson won it in 2021.

The longlist is as follows:

Chained, by Scholastica Moraa, Kenya

Star Boy, by Adaoro Raji, Nigeria

Isithunzi, by Beverley Ann Abrahams, Zimbabwe

The weight of grief, by Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi, Nigeria

Ashes on Platters of Gold, by Ola W. Halim, Nigeria 

Bittersweet, Like Lemonade, by Chiemeziem Everest Udochukwu, Nigeria

Anchor for the Baby, by Ibrahim Mustapha Enesi Nigeria

Until Mushrooms Sprout, by Joe

Nyirenda, Zambia

The Judgement, by Agomuo juliana chinaza, Nigeria

Luckiest Bastards, by Uchechi Princewill Akachi, Nigeria

The shortlist of five will be published on the 15th of September, 2022, while the winners of this year’s prize will be known during the live ceremony at Fourteen Falls Leisure Lodge, Thika, Kenya.