Nigerian American Author Tope Folarin takes Caine Prize for African literature

The 2013 prestigious Caine Prize for African writing has been awarded to Tope Folarin; a US-based Nigerian writer.

He received a £10,000 ($15,000) winning for his short story Miracle, set in an evangelical Nigerian church in the US city of Texas. The book's plot raced through a congregation that gathers at a church to witness the healing powers of a blind pastor-prophet.

The Chair of Judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, announced Tope Folarin as the winner at a dinner held on Monday, 8TH July at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Speaking on behalf of the Judges, Casely-Hayford described Folarin’s piece   as a "delightful and beautifully paced narrative that is exquisitely observed and utterly compelling”.

Tope Folarin is also the recipient of writing fellowships from the Institute for Policy Studies and Callaloo, and he serves on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Tope was educated at Morehouse College, and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Master’s degrees as a Rhodes Scholar.

Folarin was among five writers short-listed for the prize, regarded as Africa's leading literary award, reports the BBC.

Three other Nigerians were short-listed – Elnathan John for Bayan Layi, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim for The Whispering Trees and Chinelo Okparanta for America.

Sierra Leone's Pede Hollist was the only non-Nigerian short-listed for his short story Foreign Aid.

Last year's recipient was Rotimi Babatunde for his story Bombay's Republic – about Nigerian soldiers who fought in the Burma campaign during World War II.