The Center for Fiction has unveiled the 2024 First Novel Prize longlist. This year, 144 works vied for recognition for the First Novel Prize out of which two Africans made the continent proud once again!
The two African authors longlisted for the prize are:
- The Lions’ Den by Iris Mwanza, Published by Harlequin Trade Publishing / Graydon House
- They Dream in Gold, By Mai Sennaar, Published by Zando / SJP Lit
Inaugurated in 2006, the First Novel Prize honours the best debut novel of the year, and supports important emerging voices in fiction. Each year, the First Novel Prize winner is awarded a $15,000 prize in recognition of their contribution to the contemporary literary canon and in support of their ongoing creative career.
Iris Mwanza is a Zambian-American writer. As deputy director of the Gender Equality Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she leads strategy and investment for the Women in Leadership portfolio, and she has previously worked as a corporate lawyer in both Zambia and the US. Mwanza holds law degrees from Cornell University and the University of Zambia, and an MA and PhD in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In addition to her work at the foundation, Mwanza serves on the supervisory board of CARE International and on the board of directors of the World Wildlife Fund-US.
Mai Sennaar is a Senegalese-American graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The Smithsonian Affiliate Museum of the African Diaspora, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the Classical Theatre of Harlem are among the venues that have presented her plays. Her short film Wax Lovers’ Playlist premiered at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and was an Official Selection of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. She is the book writer for Carry On!, a new musical by Broadway composer Diana Wharton-Sennaar and the creative director of the performing arts company MWPLive. They Dream in Gold is her first novel. She lives between Baltimore and Dakar.
Read the full list of all longlisted authors on the Center for Fiction Official Website.
Congratulations Iris and Mai!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
