Olufemi Terry

Last updated

Olufemi Terry
Born Sierra Leone
OccupationWriter, journalist
Subject African diaspora
Notable works"Stickfighting Days",
The Sum of All Losses
Notable awards Caine Prize for African Writing (2010)

Olufemi Terry is a Sierra Leone-born writer. He won the 2010 Caine Prize for African Writing for his second short story "Stickfighting Days," which was originally published in Chimurenga. [1] The judges said he was "a talent with an enormous future". [2] He hopes to publish his debut novel soon.

Contents

Life

Terry was born in Sierra Leone but grew up in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the Côte d'Ivoire and studied at a university in New York, United States, [2] before becoming a journalist in both Somalia and Uganda. [3] He now lives in Stuttgart, Germany. [2] He received an MA in creative writing at the University of Cape Town in 2008. [4]

On 5 July 2010, Terry won the Caine Prize for African Writing, ahead of such other African writers as Ken Barris (South Africa), Lily Mabura (Kenya), Namwali Serpell (Zambia), and Alex Smith (South Africa). [5] [6] Judges chair and literary editor with The Economist , Fiammetta Rocco, said:

Ambitious, brave and hugely imaginative, Olufemi Terry's Stickfighting Days presents a heroic culture that is Homeric in its scale and conception. The execution of this story is so tight and the presentation so cinematic, it confirms Olufemi Terry as a talent with an enormous future. [3]

Terry said he was "overwhelmed for at least the first hour". [1] He received his prize of £10,000 in London. [3] He may also spend a month in residence at Georgetown University in the United States. [3]

Terry writes about the African diaspora. [3] However, he believes it is "unhelpful" to view African writers as a unique grouping of their own, saying to the BBC's World Today , "There is a danger in seeking authenticity in African writing". [2] [3] He says the Caine Prize would be useful as it would assist in the publication of his debut novel, called The Sum of All Losses. [2] [3] Terry has published three other short stories: "Digitalis Lust" is an exploration of isolation set in Cape Town published in the Caine Prize's 8th annual collection, Jambula Tree; "Lamu Squat", written in 2006 and set in Lamu, Kenya, was published in the online magazine Guernica in early March 2011; and "Dark Triad", published in Blip Magazine [7] (the new Mississippi Review) as well as in the Caine anthology To See the Mountain.

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binyavanga Wainaina</span> Kenyan writer and editor (1971–2019)

Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina was a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. In 2003, he was the founding editor of Kwani? literary magazine. In April 2014, Time magazine included Wainaina in its annual Time 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caine Prize</span> Annual award for best original short story by an African writer

The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, the £10,000 prize was named in memory of businessman and philanthropist Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group and of the Booker Prize management committee. The Caine Prize is sometimes called the "African Booker". The Chair of the Board is Ellah Wakatama, appointed in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ</span> Kenyan poet and author (born 1971)

Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ is a Kenyan American poet, author, and academic. He is associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University and co-founder of the Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Writing. His father is the author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. His family was deeply impacted by the bloody British suppression of the Mau Mau revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nii Parkes</span> British performance poet, writer, publisher and broadcaster (born 1974)

Nii Ayikwei Parkes, born in the United Kingdom to parents from Ghana, where he was raised, is a performance poet, writer, publisher and sociocultural commentator. He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa who in April 2014 were named as part of the Hay Festival's prestigious Africa39 project. He writes for children under the name K.P. Kojo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chika Unigwe</span> Nigerian-born Igbo author (born 1974)

Chika Nina Unigwe is a Nigerian-born Igbo author who writes in English and Dutch. In April 2014 she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. Previously based in Belgium, she now lives in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helon Habila</span> Nigerian novelist and poet (born 1967)

Helon Habila Ngalabak is a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, including the Caine Prize in 2001. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was a Chevening Scholar at the University of East Anglia, and now teaches creative writing at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

<i>Guernica</i> (magazine) Online magazine of arts and culture

Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics is an American online magazine that publishes art, photography, fiction, and poetry, along with nonfiction such as letters, investigative pieces, and opinion pieces on international affairs and U.S. domestic policy. It also publishes interviews and profiles of artists, writers, musicians, and political figures.

Mary Watson is a South African author. In 2006 she won the Caine Prize for African Writing and in 2014 was named on the Africa39 list of writers from sub-Saharan Africa aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Chikwava</span> Zimbabwean writer and musician

Brian Chikwava is a Zimbabwean writer and musician. His short story "Seventh Street Alchemy" was awarded the 2004 Caine Prize for African writing in English; Chikwava became the first Zimbabwean to do so. He has been a Charles Pick fellow at the University of East Anglia, and lives in London. He continues to write in England and put out an album titled Jacaranda Skits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Mort</span> British writer, editor and tutor

Graham Mort is a British writer, editor and tutor, who "is acknowledged as one of contemporary verse's most accomplished practitioners". He is the author of ten volumes of poetry and two volumes of short fiction and has written radio drama for BBC Radio 4, and won both the Bridport Prize and the Edge Hill Prize for short fiction.

Henrietta Rose-Innes is a South African novelist and short-story writer. She was the 2008 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing for her speculative-fiction story "Poison". Her novel Nineveh was shortlisted for the 2012 Sunday Times Prize for Fiction and the M-Net Literary Awards. In September of that year her story "Sanctuary" was awarded second place in the 2012 BBC (Inter)national Short Story Award.

Epaphras Chukwuenweniwe Osondu, predominantly known as E. C. Osondu, is a Nigerian writer known for his short stories. His story Waiting won the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing, for which he had been a finalist in 2007 with his story Jimmy Carter's Eyes. Osondu had previously won the Allen and Nirelle Galso Prize for Fiction and his story A Letter from Home was judged one of "The Top Ten Stories on the Internet" in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aminatta Forna</span> Scottish writer

Aminatta Forna, OBE, is a British writer of Scottish and Sierra Leonean ancestry. Her first book was a memoir, The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest (2002). Since then she has written four novels: Ancestor Stones (2006), The Memory of Love (2010), The Hired Man (2013) and Happiness (2018). In 2021 she published a collection of essays, The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion. (2021), which was a new genre for her.

"Stickfighting Days" is the second short story of Sierra Leonean writer Olufemi Terry. It is the winner of the 2010 Caine Prize for African Writing. It was originally published in the pan-African magazine Chimurenga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doreen Baingana</span> Ugandan short story writer and editor (born 1966)

Doreen Baingana is a Ugandan writer. Her short story collection, Tropical Fish, won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region in 2006. Stories in it were finalists for the Caine Prize in 2004 and 2005. She was a Caine Prize finalist for the third time in 2021 and has received many other awards listed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotimi Babatunde</span> Nigerian writer and playwright

Rotimi Babatunde is a Nigerian writer and playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delia Jarrett-Macauley</span> British writer, academic and broadcaster

Delia Jarrett-Macauley, also known as Dee Jarrett-Macauley, is a London-based British writer, academic and broadcaster of Sierra Leonean heritage. Her debut novel, Moses, Citizen & Me, won the 2006 Orwell Prize for political writing, the first novel to have been awarded the prize. She has devised and presented features on BBC Radio, as well as being a participant in a range of programmes. As a multi-disciplinary scholar in history, literature and cultural politics, she has taught at Leeds University, Birkbeck, University of London, and other educational establishments, most recently as a fellow in English at the University of Warwick. She is also a business and arts consultant, specialising in organisation development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lidudumalingani Mqombothi</span> South African writer

Lidudumalingani Mqombothi is a South African writer, film-maker and photographer. His short story "Memories We Lost" won the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irenosen Okojie</span> Nigerian writer

Irenosen Iseghohi Okojie FRSL is a Nigerian-born short story and novel writer working in London. Her stories incorporate speculative elements and also make use of her West African heritage. Her first novel, Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask Award in 2016, and her story "Grace Jones" won the 2020 Caine Prize for African Writing. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idza Luhumyo</span> Kenyan short story writer (born 1993)

Idza Luhumyo is a Kenyan short story writer, whose work explores Kenyan coastal identities. In July 2020, Luhumyo was announced as the inaugural recipient of the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award. She was the winner of the 2021 Short Story Day Africa Prize with her story "Five Years Next Sunday", which also won the 2022 Caine Prize.

References

  1. 1 2 Flood, Alison (6 July 2010). "Olufemi Terry wins Caine prize for African writing". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 6 July 2010. Mormegil is as long as our regulations allow, a lovely willow poke, dark willow – that's why I chose the name. It means black sword in Tolkien's language. – Quote from "Stickfighting Days"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sierra Leone's Olufemi Terry wins Caine writing prize". BBC News . BBC. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "African literary prize goes to Cape Town writer". CBC News . 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  4. Ogunlesi, Tolu (7 July 2010). "Olufemi Terry wins 2010 Caine Prize for African Writing". NEXT. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  5. Frenette, Brad (6 July 2010). "Olufemi Terry wins 2010 Caine Prize". National Post . Canwest. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  6. Flood, Alison (6 July 2010). "Olufemi Terry wins Caine prize for African writing". The Guardian. London.
  7. Olufemi Terry Feature, New World Writing, 3 June 2011.