Caine Prize expands its publishing network in Africa

The Caine Prize has signed a deal with the Nigerian publishing company, Lantern Books, to publish the 2014 edition of the Caine Prize anthology, The Gonjon Pin and Other Stories. Lantern Books have committed to printing 5,000 copies of the anthology which will be available at Ake Arts & Book Festival on 18-22 November in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Commenting on the new partnership, Caine Prize Director Lizzy Attree says, “We’re delighted to be working with Lantern Books in Nigeria this year to publish The Gonjon Pin, ensuring that all 17 short stories are widely available to Nigerian readers, from a local publisher, and at an affordable price.”
Traditionally a children’s publisher, Lantern Books is one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous publishers. “Lantern Books is excited that we have been given the opportunity to enter into collaboration with New Internationalist to bring you the Caine Prize collection,” comments Lantern’s Managing Director, Tunde Lawal-Solarin. “African stories are a priceless window into our collective mind and our culture. Let us not only share our hopes and fears. Let us promote and ensure that we use this medium to build our hopes, dreams, desires and our future.”
Lantern Books joins ten other publishers already selling Caine Prize anthologies in Europe and Africa. The Caine Prize anthology of short stories, which includes the five stories shortlisted each year, alongside stories written at the workshops, is published annually by New Internationalist in the UK and publishers in eight different African
countries; ‘amaBooks (Zimbabwe), Bookworld Publishers (Zambia), Cassava Republic (Nigeria), FEMRITE (Uganda), Jacana Media (South Africa), Kwani? (Kenya), Langaa Research and Publishing CIG (Cameroon) and Sub-Saharan Publishers (Ghana).
New Internationalist provides a print ready PDF to each of these publishers, free of charge. Publishers have the freedom to redesign the cover, and print and sell the book as they wish to suit their relevant markets. Dan Raymond-Barker, Publications Sales & Marketing Manager at New Internationalist states, “This is a unique partnership. As publishers we are all sharing our resources and skills with the aim of making the Caine Prize stories as widely available as possible, in print or e-book format.” E-book versions of the anthology are supported by Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Mazwi (Zimbabwe) and other platforms.
The Paris based publishing house, Éditions Zulma have recently published Snapshots – Nouvelles voix du Caine Prize – which includes six stories from Caine Prize authors, translated by Sika Fakambi. “This is the first step in our drive to encourage translators to publish Caine Prize stories, to make them available to readers around the world, in different languages,” comments Lizzy Attree.
The Caine Prize is also continuing to develop its partnership with the literacy NGO Worldreader, to make the first nine award-winning stories – since 2000 – available free to African readers, via their Binu mobile phone app, which is free to download on their website www.worldreader.org