Caine Prize: 2019 Winner – Lesley Nneka Arimah, Nigeria

Nigerian writer Lesley Nneka Arimah has won the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing, for her short story entitled “Skinned”, published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern (Issue 53) 2018. Dr. Peter Kimani, Chair of Judges announced Lesley Nneka Arimah as the winner of the £10,000 prize. The ceremony was held for the third time in Senate House, in partnership with SOAS University of London, UK and the Centre for African Studies.

Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in London in 1983. Her work has been published in The New Yorker and Granta. In 2015, her story “Light” won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. In 2016, 2017 she was shortlisted for the Caine Prize.

Her Notable works:

# “Chuma”, BBC Radio 4 (Audio) # “The Gift” , Stylist Magazine (Audio) # “Wild“, Daily Beast # “The Doll“, Minneapolis Institute of Art # “Glory”, Harper’s Magazine # “Who Will Greet You at Home“, The New Yorker # “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky“, Catapult # “Buchi’s Girls”, Five Points | “Light“, GRANTA Online # “Windfalls“, Per Contra | “Second Chances“, The Toast # “War Stories”, Mid-American Review # “The Future Looks Good”, PANK

The Caine Prize was awared for African Writing. It is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000. It was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group plc.