Morland Writing Scholarship – 2016 Shortlist

The shortlist for the prestigious Morland Writing Scholarship has just been announced. Among the twenty-two shortlisted writers are two Zimbabweans, Bryony Rheam and Sandisile Tshuma, both of whom have been published by amaBooks.

Percy Zvomuya is a previous Zimbabwean recipient of a Morland Writing Scholarship.

Bryony Rheam

Sandisile Tshuma

This year Nigerians dominated the list. Of the twenty-two names, eleven are from Nigeria, three from South Africa, two each from Somalia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and one each from Gambia and Ghana.

Miles Morland said, “The standard of the shortlist is always high but this year we had an even greater depth of talent than before, making the choosing of a shortlist particularly difficult.  We had over 500 entries, up from 385 last year and they came from 37 countries, compared with 27 last year. We have two Caine Prize winners on it, and a number of writers who have received global recognition. We are pleased also to have writers early in their career who show terrific promise. We have been blown away by the talent, imagination, energy, and humour that characterises African writing. Our only disappointment is that, although we had a number of non-fiction submissions, only one made it to the short list. We are actively trying to encourage non-fiction, Africans telling Africa’s story.”

The judges, with Ellah Wakatama Allfrey from Zimbabwe in the chair, assisted by Femi Terry from Sierra Leone, and Muthoni Garland from Kenya, will meet on Dec 12th to select the five 2016 Scholars. Their names will be announced shortly afterwards. The Scholars will each receive £18,000, paid over the course of a year, to allow them to take time off to write the book they have proposed.

The shortlist follows:

Abdul Adan – Somalia

Jekwu Anyaegbuna – Nigeria

Ayesha Harruna Attah – Ghana

Rotimi Babatunde - Nigeria

Dayo Foster – Gambia

Amy Heydenrych – S Africa

Abubakar Ibrahim – Nigeria

Nneoma Ike-Njoku – Nigeria

Julie Iromuanya – Nigeria

Hamse Ismail - Somalia

William Ifeanyi Moore – Nigeria

Lidudumalingani Mqombothi – S Africa

Nick Mulgrew – S Africa

Otosirieze Obi-Young - Nigeria

Okwiri Oduor – Kenya

Adeola Opeyemi - Nigeria

Olawale Olayemi – Nigeria

Troy Onyango – Kenya

Mary Ononokpono – Nigeria

Koye Oyedeji - Nigeria

Bryony Rheam – Zimbabwe

Sandisile Tshuma – Zimbabwe