Nigerian wins book award

Helon Habila: Impressed the judges Thirty-three year old Helon Habila from
Nigeria has won this year's Caine Prize for African writing, for his short
story "Love Poems."
The story, set during military rule in Nigeria, is about a poet detained
in jail, whose poetry is falsely claimed by the jailer as his own.
The chair of the judging panel, Professor Dan Jacobson, said: "His story
impressed the judges, especially by its qualities of intensity and
alertness to some of the most sinister aspects of Nigerian life under
military rule."
The announcement was made during a dinner in Oxford on Monday evening.
Competition
The winning story faced strong competition from 120 writers from almost 30
African countries.
The other short-listed authors included Mia Couto from Mozambique and
Nuruddin Farah from Somalia.
This is the second year the prize of $15,000 has been awarded.
It is open to writers from anywhere in Africa for a short story published
in English.
The prize is named in celebration of the late Sir Michael Caine, former
chairman of Booker plc, who have close links with Africa.
The aim is to bring African writing to the attention of a wider audience.
Mr Habila, who was born in Gombe state, is the arts editor of the Vanguard
newspaper Lagos.
BBC News Online

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