"Hunter Emmanuel" by Constance Myburgh 4 of 5 Caine Prize Stories

"Hunter Emmanuel" by Constance Myburgh (2010, 10 pages)

Blogging the Caine Year Three 2012

My posts on Caine Prize Stories in 2010 and 2011

My Ranking of the 2012 Stories So Far

1.  "Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde-worthy to be a winner

2.  "Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani-

3.  "Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora

4.  "Hunter Emmanuel" by Contance Myburg (worse by far Caine story)

So far "Bombay's Republic" is the best by far.   

The Caine Prize is considered Africa's leading literary award.    Entry is open to anyone from an African country and the form of work is the short short.   The patrons of the prize include three African winners of the Nobel Prize for literature, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Wole Soyinka.    Chinua Achebe, winner of the International Man Booker prize,  is also a patron.    The award comes with 10,000 British Pounds  and is given out annually at a celebratory event in Oxford.     The short story is seen as a continuation of the tradition of African story telling which is one of the reasons the award focuses on that genre.    The award began in 2000.   

I began blogging on the Caine Prize short listed stories in 2010.   As far as I know I was the only person to do this.  In 2011 six bloggers posted on the stories which resulted in some very good posts and conversations.   In 2011 much of the comments were about whether or not the stories were a form of what was called "African Poverty Porn".   In 2010 there were several good stories and the winner, "Stick Fighting Days" by Olufemi Terry was just wonderful.  The 2011 stories were of lower quality.   There are now 19 bloggers posting on the stories this year.


"Hunter Emmanuel" is by far the worse Caine Prize story I have read in the last three years.   There were some 120 stories submitted to the judges for consideration and if this is really one of the best,then my extreme sympathies to the judges.    In 2011 a lot of people, myself included, felt the stories were written with western readers in mind, readers who wanted to be excited by stories of corruption, brutality and poverty. Prior Caine selectees have acknowledged they were doing  this. The term used to describe such stories is "African Poverty Porn". (This is not my expression, I learned it from African based bloggers last year.)  In 2012 the judges announced that is not what they want to see this year.   I guess it slipped there mind when they short listed "Hunter Emmanuel".


I do not want to spend a lot of time on this story as it not really worthy of being included here with the, stories of the wonderful writers I have posted on.   The story centers on a "whore" (the term the author uses over and over) whose leg was cut off and thrown up in a tree.   Hunter Emmanuel  is walking through a forest scheduled to be logged and he sees a woman's leg hanging way up in a tree.    His first thought is to the body parts of the woman.  Here is some of the dialogue between Emmanuel and the woman.


Woman-"Someone cut of my leg, that's something I'd remember".
Emmanuel- "You think the police are going to solve this one.  You are a whore.  That is already bad.  But you are also a whore that is still alive.  That's worse.  If you were dead there would be more of a chance they'd give a shit".


There is a link on the Caine Prize webpage where you can read this.   I will not put it on The Reading Life.   I do not endorse this story to anyone.

There is a link to the other posts on the Caine Prize here.   If you read the posts of the others posting on the Caine stories you will find a lot of geopolitical data.  

Mel u

Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani -3rd of 5 posts on the Caine Prize Short List

"Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani (2011, 15 pages)

Blogging the Caine Year Three 2012

My posts on Caine Prize Stories in 2010 and 2011

My Ranking of the 2012 Stories So Far

1.  "Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde-worthy to be a winner

2.  "Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani-

3.  "Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora

So far "Bombay's Republic" is the best by far

The Caine Prize is considered Africa's leading literary award.    Entry is open to anyone from an African country and the form of work is the short short.   The patrons of the prize include three African winners of the Nobel Prize for literature, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Wole Soyinka.    Chinua Achebe, winner of the International Man Booker prize,  is also a patron.    The award comes with 10,000 British Pounds  and is given out annually at a celebratory event in Oxford.     The short story is seen as a continuation of the tradition of African story telling which is one of the reasons the award focuses on that genre.    The award began in 2000.   

I began blogging on the Caine Prize short listed stories in 2010.   As far as I know I was the only person to do this.  In 2011 six bloggers posted on the stories which resulted in some very good posts and conversations.   In 2011 much of the comments were about whether or not the stories were a form of what was called "African Poverty Porn".   In 2010 there were several good stories and the winner, "Stick Fighting Days" by Olufemi Terry was just wonderful.  The 2011 stories were of lower quality.   There are now 19 bloggers posting on the stories this year.


I will be posting, as will a number of others, on a story a week for the next five weeks.   So far all three of the 2012 stories have been better than any of the 2011 stories.  

"Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani is set in Malawi.   Homosexual behavior is illegal there and carries very long prison sentences.   Like "Urban Zoning" heavy drinking plays a central part in this story.  I as a rule am turned off by stories, novels, TV shows and movies that center on heavy drinkers or drug abusers.   I know this is a prejudice but it is how  I feel.   It is why even though I accept the technical brilliance of Raymond Carver I do not read him with any great interest.

The central character is a bar fly type.  The most fabulous thing he ever did was to come upon two men having sex in the restroom of the bar.   When he tells people about it they all profess great shock and many do not think it is even possible.   He begins to insist that people buy him a drink before he will tell the story. People come from far and wide to hear his story.   Soon he names the man in the story to the authorities.   The man ends up on TV being interviewed and being damned as the basest of creatures acting against the laws of God.  He ends up getting a long prison term.  A lot of human rights groups protest the sentence and Malawi ends up having a lot of vitally needed aid cut off because of this.  At the end of the story the man in the bar is found to have aids, we do not know how he contracted it.   He goes to the medical station and is told there is no medicine for aids victims because it was supplied by foreign countries who cut off their help when the man he informed on was sent to prison.

This is kind of an interesting story.   I liked the circular plot structure.    I do not see this story as a worthy winner as it is more a polemic  than a work of quality literature.

Official Biography of the author

Born in 1976, Stanley Onjezani Kenani is a writer from Malawi. Love on Trial is one of the short stories in his debut collection, For Honour and other stories, published in 2011 by Random House Struik in South Africa. In 2007, he was second runner-up in the HSBC-SA PEN award, judged by JM Coetzee, for the title story of his collection, which was also shortlisted for the Caine Prize in 2008. A poet who is also an accountant, Kenani lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland. He is currently finalizing his debut novel, Drama Republic.

There is a link to the other posts on the Caine Prize here.   If you read the posts of the others posting on the Caine stories you will find a lot of geopolitical data.  

Mel u

"Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora-Second of Five 2012 Short Listed Caine Prize Stories

"Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora (2011, 13 pages)

2012

Blogging the Caine Year Three

My posts on Caine Prize Stories in 2010 and 2011

My Ranking of the 2012 Stories So Far

1.  "Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde-worthy to be a winner

2.  "Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora

The Caine Prize is considered Africa's leading literary award.    Entry is open to anyone from an African country and the form of work is the short short.   The patrons of the prize include three African winners of the Nobel Prize for literature, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Wole Soyinka.    Chinua Achebe, winner of the International Man Booker prize,  is also a patron.    The award comes with 10,000 British Pounds  and is given out annually at a celebratory event in Oxford.     The short story is seen as a continuation of the tradition of African story telling which is one of the reasons the award focuses on that genre.    The award began in 2000.   

I began blogging on the Caine Prize short listed stories in 2010.   As far as I know I was the only person to do this.  In 2011 six bloggers posted on the stories which resulted in some very good posts and conversations.   In 2011 much of the comments were about whether or not the stories were a form of what was called "African Poverty Porn".   In 2010 there were several good stories and the winner, "Stick Fighting Days" by Olufemi Terry was just wonderful.  The 2011 stories were of lower quality.   There are now 19 bloggers posting on the stories this year so far.  

I will be posting, as will a number of others, on a story a week for the next five weeks.   "Urban Zoning" by Billy Kahora is a better story than any of the 2011 stories.

Some short stories should be read in silence with no food or drink to interfere with your experience.   I think "Urban Zoning" should be read only after you have consumed several large Tusker Lagers, Kenya's number one brand of beer.  Thanks to a brilliant Ipad program, Tunein Radio, I can listen to 1000s of radio stations from anywhere in the world.   I think it is best to read this story while listening to Ghetto Radio 88.5 from Nairobi, with external speakers so as to achieve maximum sound.  


I have said before I do not really like stories that centering on heavy drinking and the live experiences binge drinkers.   This even kept me from really appreciating a lot of the stories of Raymond  Carver even though I see his technical brilliance.     "Urban Zoning" is about a young man who has given up the pleasures of casual sex for 72 hour drinking sessions.   I realize this is a way of coping with the despair of his environment, in part.  The story starts as Kandle is coming into what he calls "The Zone", a calm state of mind he says he comes into after a minimum of three days straight drinking. Kandle takes us on a sort of interesting night town tour of Nairobi.   We meet some lose women and some of his friends.  It is kind of an interesting tour.  Then we find out Kandle works in a bank.   Before you say say oh how can he do this, just read the headlines about the banks of the world.   Once we are inside the bank and meet the employees there, Kendle has been called up before a committee to justify why he should not be fired for missing a huge amount of work.   I really didn't find myself caring.


This is an OK story, I am guess I am glad I read it but I will be shocked if it wins.  I did not find it real original or creative.    


Here is his official biography

Billy Kahora is the managing editor of the Kenyan literary journal Kwani? and the author of The True Story of David Munyakei (2009). His writing has appeared in Granta, Kwani?, Chimurenga and Vanity Fair. His short story, 'Treadmill Love', was highly commended by the 2007 Caine Prize judges. He is working on a novel titled, The Applications and is writing a book on Juba.

There is a link to the other posts on the Caine Prize here

Mel u

The Caine Prize Short List-2012-"Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde

The Caine Prize Short List-2012-"Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde

2012

Blogging the Caine Year Three

My post on Caine Prize Stories in 2010 and 2011

The Caine Prize is considered Africa's leading literary award.    Entry is open to anyone from an African country and the form of work is the short short.   The patrons of the prize include three African winners of the Nobel Prize for literature, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Wole Soyinka.    Chinua Achebe, winner of the International Man Booker prize,  is also a patron.    The award comes with 10,000 British Pounds  and is given out annually at a celebratory event in Oxford.     The short story is seen as a continuation of the tradition of African story telling which is one of the reasons the award focuses on that genre.    The award began in 2000.   

I began blogging on the Caine Prize short listed stories in 2010.   As far as I know I was the only person to do this.  In 2011 a number of bloggers posted on the stories which resulted in some very good posts and conversations.   In 2011 much of the comments were about whether or not the stories were a form of what was called "African Poverty Porn".   In 2010 there were several good stories and the winner, "Stick Fighting Days" by Olufemi Terry was just wonderful.   In 2011 I thought the stories declined in quality a lot and I was disappointed in the winner.   

I will be posting, as will a number of others, on a story a week for the next five weeks.

If "Bombay's Republic" by Rotimi Babatunde is any indication, we are in for some totally great stories this year.   I really loved this story.   There is also, for most of use for sure including me, a lot to be learned about    colonial Nigeria in the WWII era.   As the story opens, young Nigerian men are being told that Hitler's army is right on the border of their country and if they invade they have terrible plans for the people of Nigeria.   Many enroll in the British army as all of their lives they have been indoctrinated to believe that the white man was superior and they were honored to be in their army.   Those who would not join were forced in to the army.   They all thought the war would only last for a couple of weeks.   

Babatunde does a great job of taking us through basic training and. the 40 day plus trip from Nigeria to the jungles of Burma where the Nigerian units were sent into the most dangerous of missions.   At first our central character admires the English officers but he soon sees their feet of clay.   The Nigerian units conduct themselves with great distinction.   The Japanese seem to have a special fear of them.    In fact when  ever the unit comes upon dead bodies of Nigerian soldiers, they find the Japanese have cut them up into many pieces as they think the Nigerians come back to life if they do not. Babutunde did a wonderful job of letting us see what it was like to fight in the Burmese jungle.   Just the bugs were enough to kill a lot of people on both sides.   He saw terrible things and he did them also.      One day he learns the war ended a week ago when the Americans dropped a very big bomb on the Japanese. 

Not that many of the Nigerian soldiers made it home and everybody had a lot of questions for our central character.   The war changed him in lots of subtle and large ways.   He no longer looked up to the whites or feared them, he had contempt for African policemen and such who enforced the rules of the colony.

The story develops wonderfully when he gets back home to Lagos.   I really do not want to give away more of this plot because it is so much fun, so smart and really flat our hilarious.   In the closing pages of  "Bombay's Republic"  Babatunde takes into a different mode of narrative that totally fits with the plot of the story, a marvelous combination of form and content.  

"Bombay"s Republic" is a great story, if  there are better stories to come than this  the we are in for a wonderful Caine Year.   The story has a lot to teach us about colonialism and government authority in general.   It seemed as it closed almost like an Orwellian precautionary fable.   His prose style is perfect.  I learned a lot about WWII as it impacted African colonies of England from this story.  

You can find all of the short listed stories at the Caine Prize web page, as well as more background information on the award.

Official Biography

Rotimi Babatunde

Rotimi Babatunde’s fiction and poems have been published in Africa, Europe and America in journals which include Die Aussenseite des Elementes and Fiction on the Web and in anthologies including Little Drops, Daybreak on the Land and A Volcano of Voices. He is a winner of the Meridian Tragic Love Story Competition organised by the BBC World Service and was awarded the Cyprian Ekwensi Prize for Short Stories by the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF). His plays have been staged and presented by institutions which include Halcyon Theatre, Chicago; Riksteatern (the Swedish National Touring Theatre), Stockholm; the Royal Court Theatre, the Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA) and Churchill Theatre Bromley, all in London; and broadcast on the BBC World Service. He has been awarded literary fellowships by the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation in New York, by Fondazione Pistoletto’s Unidee Program and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre in Italy, and by Ledig House and the MacDowell Colony in the United States. Rotimi Babatunde lives in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Here are the Blog posts up so far on "Bombay's Republic

Method to the Madness
The Oncoming Hope
Bookshy  
Stephen Derwent Partington
Backslash Scott
Zunguzungu

Feel free to join us!

The best literary work written on the fight in Burma is for sure The Harp of Burma by Micheo Takeyama, a story of the war from the point of view of a Japanese soldier who tries to reconcile it with his Buddhist faith

Mel u