By Nehru Odeh

The Judges of the 2022 Earl Lovelace Short Fiction Prize have announced a shortlist of six.

The shortlisted authors are: Raphael Adebayo for ‘A Legacy of Negro Nihilism’, Reginald C. Ofodile for ‘Return and Revelation’, Ifeoma Aroh for ‘The Day Before Tomorrow’, Oluwabusayo Madariola for ‘The Season of Heavy Rains’, Okechi Okeke for ‘The Taste of Dust’ and Beco for ‘To Come’.

Announcing the shortlist, Chair of the Jury Chioma Okereke said: “It wasn’t an easy task, but I’m glad to see that there was a clear pattern in terms of the frontrunners!”

Okereke is a Nigerian-born poet, author and short story writer. Her debut novel, Bitter Leaf (2010), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize – Africa Best First Book 2011.

Other jury members are: Lidudumalingani (South Africa), Tathiana Cassano (Brazil), Ikenna Okeh (Nigeria) and Javier Gutierrez Lozano (Mexico).

The prize, instituted by Onyeka Nwelue, academic fellow at the University of Oxford to honour Eael Lovelace, arguably the most important writer in the Caribbean, will be announced on 13 July, 2022 and the winner receive £500.

While the shortlisted authors will be published in an anthology to be edited by Nwelue and published by Abibiman publishing.