Novuyo Elated To be Etisalat Prize Nominee

Budding author, Novuya Rosa Tshuma is thrilled to have her book 'Shadows' which is a collection of short stories, nominated for the Etisalat Prize for Literature.

The prize which was launched last year is the first pan-African prize from Nigeria that is only open to debut African fiction writers.

"Seeing Shadows on the list was a pleasant surprise," exclaimed Novuyo. "Some of the books on the list I had already had the pleasure of reading, and it's an honour to share the list with such great writers. It gives me pleasure both as a writer and a reader."

All eyes will be on 'Shadows' to see if it can bring the prize back home after NoViolet Bulawayo won the inaugural edition with her book titled 'We Need New Names'.

'Shadows' joins the list of the other eight great works by African authors which are 'Happiness Like Water' by Chinelo Okparanta, 'The Thunder that Roars' by Imran Garda, 'An Imperfect Blessing' by Nadia Davids, 'Whoever Fears the Sea by Justin Fox', 'Penumbra' by Songeziwe Mahlangu, 'Kintu' by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, 'Fresh Air and other stories' by Reward Nsirim and 'Ghana Must Go' by Taiye Selasi.

The shortlisted writers who will have 1 000 copies of their books purchased by Etisalat and go on a multi-city sponsored tour will be announced on December 8.

The overall winner of the Etisalat Prize for Literature will be announced on February 22, 2015 and will receive £15 000, an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück and will attend an Etisalat sponsored fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia, mentored by Professor Giles Foden, author of the Last King of Scotland.

Tshuma's first collection of 'Shadows' was published last year by Kwela in South Africa and is a winner of the 2014 Herman Charles Bosman Prize.

In 2009, she won the Intwasa Short Story Award, now known as the Yvonne Vera Award, for her short story 'You In Paradise', having been shortlisted for the award the previous year.

She has also been a participant in both the Caine Prize and Farafina Trust Writing Workshops (2010), as well as the Kenya Literary Week hosted by UK's Granta Literary Magazine, Kwani Trust and the British Council (2013).

Tshuma has been involved in initiatives such as Short Story Day Africa, she was a team member of the six-person 'The Sextet Pen (Africa)' team that won the 2012 International Chain Story challenge, and a judge for the Short Story Day Africa Feast, Famine and Potluck 2013 Competition.

This year, she was selected for the Africa39 Project, which is run by the Hay Festival and consists of the 'selection of 39 writers under the age of 40 who have the potential and the talent to define the trends that will mark the future development of literature in a certain language or region', and has work in the forthcoming Africa39 anthology, published by Bloomsbury in October 2014.