South African writer, theatre-maker and scholar Nadia Davids
South African writer, theatre-maker and scholar Nadia Davids has won the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing for her story, Bridling, which was published in The Georgia Review in 2023.
It is an annual award for a short story by an African writer published in English of a length between 3 000 to 10 000 words. This year’s competition witnessed a record-breaking number of submissions, with 320 entries from 28 African countries.
Speaking of the winning story, award winning author and chair of the judges, Chika Unigwe, said: “Bridling is an impressive achievement, a triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking while maintaining a tightly controlled narrative about women who rebel. It embodies the spirit of the Caine Prize, which is to celebrate the richness and diversity of short stories by African writers.”
Davids said in a post on Instagram: “This last year has brought me some creative and professional challenges, making the good news of these last few weeks all the more joyful.”
Last month, after being shortlisted, Davids told the Mail & Guardian that the underlying theme of Bridling was “power, rebellion, the often-impossible constraints of girl and womanhood and the ways we try to free ourselves”.
Davids will receive £10 000, in addition to having her work featured in the 2024 Caine Prize Anthology, Midnight In the Morgue and Other Stories.