Lesley Nneka Arimah’s short story Skinned wins 2019 Caine Prize

Nigerian-born Lesley Nneka Arimah is the winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story titled, Skinned, award organiser announced on Monday, 8 July 2019.

The Caine Prize is “awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English (indicative length 3,000 to 10,000 words),” according to the award organisers. The prize money is £10,000, with other shortlisted getting £500.

Lesley was shortlisted alongside another Nigerian, Tochuckwu Emmanuel Okafor for his story All Our Lives. Others on the five-man shortlist included Meron Hadero for the story The Wall, Cherrie Kandie for the story Chew My Mouth, and Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti for the story It Takes A Village Some Say.

Skinned was published in McSweeney’s Quarterly and tells the story of women who are “uncovered” and are not allowed the privilege of getting clothed until they are married.

Describing the story, chair of judges, Peter Kimani says:

“The winner of this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing is a unique retake of women’s struggle for inclusion in a society regulated by rituals. Lesley Nneka Arimah’s Skinned defamiliarises the familiar to topple social hierarchies, challenge traditions and envision new possibilities for women of the world. Using a sprightly diction, she invents a dystopian universe inhabited by unforgettable characters where friendship is tested, innocence is lost, and readers gain a new understanding of life.”

An appreciative Lesley Nneka Arimah ook to Twitter to thank her readers, writing: “Thank you, for your congratulations, for your encouragement, for your readership. And if you like Skinned, you should check out the rest of the shortlist.”

Thank you, for your congratulations, for your encouragement, for your readership. And if you like Skinned, you should check out the rest of the shortlist: https://t.co/m5AHmPeCx2

— Lesley Nneka Arimah (@larimah) July 8, 2019

The writer had twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize; first in 2016 for her story What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, and in 2017 for Who Will Greet You At Home.

Previous winners of the award  are Sudan’s Leila Aboulela (2000), Nigerian Helon Habila (2001), Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Kenyan Yvonne Owuor (2003), Zimbabwean Brian Chikwava(2004), Nigerian Segun Afolabi (2005), South African Mary Watson (2006), Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007), South African Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008), Nigerian EC Osondu (2009), Sierra Leonean Olufemi Terry (2010), Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo (2011), Nigerian Rotimi Babatunde (2012), Nigerian Tope Folarin (2013), Kenyan Okwiri Oduor (2014), Zambian Namwali Serpell (2015), South African Lidudumalingani (2016), Sudanese Bushra al-Fadil(2017), and Kenyan writer Makena Onjerika (2018).

Congratulations to the prize winner, Lesley Nneka Arimah and to every writer shortlisted for the award.