Zimbabwean writer Gift Nyoni has been revealed as the winner of the 2025 Afritondo Short Story Prize for his story “Heat”.
The Afritondo Short Story Prize, now in its sixth year, celebrates outstanding short fiction from African and Black diaspora writers. This year’s theme was “Temperature,” and “Heat” stood out among hundreds of submissions for its compelling storytelling.
The judging panel praised the winning entry as:
“writing that achieves what good stories do: it makes you want to share it with someone and tell them, ‘Here, you must read this!’”
Gift Nyoni is a Zimbabwean-born writer who won a 2021 Guardian and Fourth Estate BAME Short Story Prize for his story “The Ritual Seat of the King,” which explores a young boy’s experience at the end of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation.
Nyoni cites Dambudzo Marechera’s House of Hunger as a major influence on his writing. His draft novel was longlisted for both the 2021 Bath Novel Award and the BPA First Novel Award.
In addition to fiction, Nyoni has written and performed poetry, and he continues to develop long-form literary fiction projects
Congratulations, Gift Nyoni!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
