by Rachel Ogbu

A Sunday Trust literary journalist, a YNaija contributor (yes, success has many fathers!) and others have both been shortlisted for the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing 2013.

Literary journalist, Abubakar Ibrahim Adam was nominated for his story “The whispering trees” while columnist, Elnathan John, a columnist with Sunday Trust, for his story titled “Bayan layi”.

[READ: Nigeria’s Babatunde Rotimi wins Caine Prize for story ‘Bombay’s Republic’ ]

“I am delighted and excited by this news. I am honoured to be on such a strong shortlist for such a huge prize. And the fact that there are three other Nigerians in the running for it makes this even more special. For me, the fact that my publishers, Parresia Publishers, had faith in my writing and gave me the platform, and for this effort to have reached this level, is a vindication of our faith in ourselves as Nigerians. There is hope for literature in this country,” Adam said.

John told reporters that he was deeply humbled . “I am quite pleased with all the Nigerians on the shortlist and especially Abubakar Adam Ibrahim with whom I just attended Caine Prize workshop. Everyone of the shortlist is a winner. I feel privileged to be counted among them,” he said.

Two other Nigerians were also shortlisted for the award in its fourteenth year. Tope Folarin was nominated for the short story “Miracle” and Chinelo Okparanta for her story titled “America.”

Nominations were announced yesterday via the Caine Prize’s webssite and the shortlist had only a non-Nigerian, Sierra Leone’s Pede Hollist.

According to chair of the chair of the judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, stories were “selected from 96 entries from 16 African countries.”

“The five contrasting titles interrogate aspects of things that we might feel we know of Africa – violence, religion, corruption, family, community – but these are subjects that are deconstructed and beautifully remade. These are challenging, arresting, provocative stories of a continent and its descendants captured at a time of burgeoning change,” the Caine Prize website quoted him as saying.

The winner of the £10,000 prize is to be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday 8 July.

Way to go, Elnathan (and the rest of you!).