Stephen Derwent Partington on the Caine Prize

Two quotes pulled from the piece in the East African:

A recent blogger, Carmen McCain, has argued that much of the present debate over the Caine Prize and African writing in general, puts the writers themselves in an impossible position, stuck between having to: a) write for a UK-based prize that might represent a Western readership that likes poverty porn; b) satisfy Africanists-in-place that they’ve not pandered too much and sold out; c) satisfy the new liberal Western academics who are pussyfooting around poverty porn ; d) be “true” to the social situation on the ground in vast parts of Africa, where some people (the majority) really do still often suffer.

And:

 Of course, it is your pleasant task as a reader to pursue these matters further and make up your own mind, and so I’d urge us all to visit two websites: a) that of the Caine Prize itself, where all of the stories can be easily and freely downloaded; b) the Zunguzungu blog, which is hosting a Caine Prize blogathon, and which lists all of those diverse readers — general and academic — who are participating in a wider debate over 2012’s shortlist. I’d also ask you to participate there, and by doing so reclaim: This is, after all, our African and world literature, and not only that of any UK-based panel.

Read the article.