Tis the season of African writing in English, or at least the prize season. The Caine prize. The African Playwriting Competition. There must be others, but these are the prizes I’ve encountered in the pages of African in-flight magazines of late.
I’ve loved this moment, because while I’ve been doing some standard reporting work in the last few months, I’ve been thinking obsessively about fiction. I’ve been thinking about the freedom that comes with the “I made this up” disclaimer that is the genre label, a freedom both of fact and possibly even of identity? I’ve been thinking a lot about the space to experiment with voice and pace and rhythm that that opens up… I’ve been thinking about all things that the business of who-said, they-said, doesn’t let you do, and it’s been refreshing.
Strangely, one of the pieces I’ve enjoyed most doesn’t take the imaginative freedom and run wild with it. It’s an incredibly pared down, realistic narrative, a shortlist in the Caine, though it didn’t win. In “Worm,” by Ken Barris, here’s what happens: A man walks his dog. And yet it’s one of the most beautiful, controlled short stories I’ve read in a long time. Plot and voice combine to say something much, much bigger than it first seems about…well, the world. You should read it.
And if you still can’t get enough, I’m told you can get other Caine shortlisters, and the winner, here.
thanks for sharing–the author and the musings about fiction. i love your line about how plot and voice combine to say something bigger–a great way to sum up what i know i hope to do as an artist.