adminBongani Ndlovu Entertainment Correspondent
ZIMBABWEAN novelist, NoViolet Bulawayo scooped the prestigious Etisalat Prize for Literature on Saturday for her book We Need New Names bagging the £15,000 prize money at an awards ceremony held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Bulawayo also walked away with a Samsung Galaxy Note and an engraved Montblanc Meisterstuck pen.
She will also tour three African cities with the book sponsored by Etisalat.
The United States of America-based writer, who could not hide her elation, wrote on her Facebook wall thanking all who supported her.
She also congratulated the runner’s up winners Nigeria’s Yewande Omotoso who wrote the book Bom Boy and South Africa’s Karen Jennings of Finding Soutbek.
“Very pleased to be taking the Etisalat home, and honoured to have been in the company of Yewande Omotoso, Karen Jennings, and all the writers who were considered,” she wrote.
Bulawayo added that she would be celebrating by eating Nigerian cuisine.
“Super grateful to Etisalat for creating an excellent and necessary prize, I now await to be killed by Nigerian food while I am here,” she wrote.
NoViolet, for winning the award, will also embark on the Etisalat Fellowship at the University of East Anglia, mentored by Professor Giles Foden (author of The Last King of Scotland).
The award is the first Pan-African literary prize created to recognise and reward debut fiction writers in Africa.
Bulawayo, real name Elizabeth Tshele, is making a name for both the country and herself on the international scene as she has become a regular nominee in some of the world’s top literary awards.
Her first big breakthrough was scooping the 2011 Caine Prize for her short story Hitting Budapest. The debut novelist made history last year by becoming the first black African woman to be nominated for the Man Booker Award which she narrowly missed.
Her novel, We Need New Names, has received rave reviews across the world.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter