Lusaka Punk and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2015

A blind girl makes a pilgrimage to Lagos in search of a faith-healing miracle…A boy in a children’s home discovers the truth about his origins…In apartheid Johannesburg, an Indian insurance agent is honoured by his white bosses but his wife feels more than a little uneasy…A schoolboy and his gang investigate the mystery of the alien living in a shed…Dreams and reality merge menacingly in the last days of a former freedom fighter served by an old comrade and rival…The authors shortlisted for the 2015 Caine Prize are: Segun Afolabi (Nigeria) for The folded leaf; Elnathan John (Nigeria) for Flying F.T. Kola (South Africa) for A party for the colonel Masande Ntshanga (South Africa) for Space Namwali Serpell (Zambia) for The sack. In addition to those shortlisted, 12 other writers took part in the Caine prize writers’ workshop, held this year in Ghana, where each produced a special story for this volume. These 17 stories – insightful, arresting and entertaining – reflect the richness and range of current writing on the African continent.