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 It awards the best-unpublished literature —either fiction or creative non-fiction—the Kendeka Prize for African Literature.

The shortlist for the Kendeka Prize for African Literature was announced on the 15th of September. Out of a longlist of ten authors, it was mitigated to five authors living in any of the African continents, making them the shortlisted writers.

The shortlist in no particular order:

Until Mushrooms Sprout, by Joe Nyirenda, Zambia

Chained, by Scholastica Moraa, Kenya

Star Boy, by Adaoro Raji, Nigeria

Isithunzi, by Beverley Ann Abrahams, Zimbabwe

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

The winners of this year’s prize will be revealed during the live ceremony at Fourteen Falls Leisure Lodge, Thika, Kenya.