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The Caine Prize: Is it the foreign gatekeeper of Africa's fiction?

Since its inception 15 years ago, one of Africa's most prominent literary prizes has been at the center of debate over what constitutes as African literature. The Caine Prize committee announced its 2015 finalists on Tuesday.

A teenage boy听听from an unknown disease in a South African township in the early 1990s. A blind Nigerian girl听听that she will be healed at the hands of a Lagos mega-church preacher. An Indian South African couple听听at a gala in a white Johannesburg hotel.听

These are some of the shards of modern Africa on display in the stories named Tuesday as听, an annual short-fiction award for English language African writing. Drawn from a record 153 entries hailing from 17 countries, the five finalists are writers of diverse trajectories 鈥� from a duo of internationally acclaimed Nigerians to a South African-Australian lawyer whose nominated story is her first published work.听

鈥淭o me this isn鈥檛 just the best fiction Africa has to offer, it鈥檚 some of the best fiction the world has to offer,鈥� says Irish literary scholar C贸il铆n Parsons, one of the judges of this year鈥檚 competition. 鈥淭hese writers are a reminder that there鈥檚 a huge production of literature going on in Africa that can and should be part of the global conversation.鈥澨�

The Caine Prize, awarded annually since the year 2000, has been the advance guard of recognition for some of the continent鈥檚 most storied contemporary fiction writers, including Kenya鈥檚听2002听winner Binyavanga Wainaina 鈥� named听听鈥� and the Nigerian novelist and essayist Chimamanda Adichie, who was a finalist for the award that same year.听听

But as the London-based award has risen to become one of the most globally visible platforms for African writing, it has also become a lightning-rod in debates over who should be the gatekeepers of the continent鈥檚 literature, and churned up heated discussions about what makes a writer 鈥淎frican enough鈥� to represent the continent on the world stage.听

鈥淥f course when you have a panel of judges, many of whom are not African, determining the face of African literature, it鈥檚 going to introduce a kind of discord,鈥� says Dan Ojwang, an associate professor of African literature at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. this year听have African backgrounds.听

鈥淭his is a very legitimate question to ask, and one that gets us thinking about Africa鈥檚 continued marginality in the world of publishing and literary production. But we must also remember that in that regard the Caine Prize is only a symptom 鈥� it certainly isn鈥檛 the cause.鈥�

Many past winners seem to bear a complicated relationship to the prize. In 2014, more than a decade after his own victory, Mr. Wainaina听听for being 鈥渨ay too addicted to the Caine Prize鈥� at the expense of local literary magazines and awards. Ms. Adichie grumbled in 2013 that the prize had been long 鈥渙ver-privileged.鈥�

鈥淔or me it鈥檚 not the arbiter of the best fiction in Africa,鈥� she said听. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never been.鈥�

For the prize, even the definition of 鈥渇iction in Africa鈥� is a blurry one. The award stipulates that entrants must be born in Africa, a national of an African country, or have African parents. Of this year鈥檚 five finalists, just two 鈥� Nigerian Elnathan John and South African Masande Ntshanga 鈥� currently live on the continent. Two more 鈥� South African FT Kola and Zambian Namwali Serpell 鈥� are affiliated to American academic institutions, while Segun Afolabi, the son of Nigerian diplomats, lives in London.听

The debate over the place of the diaspora in African literature is not new. Even the popular term 鈥楢fropolitan鈥� 鈥� coined by author Taiye Selasie (who has connections to Ghana, Nigeria, Britain, and the US) 鈥� has 听as it aims听to acknowledge Africans who have a global perspective. The conflict stems when these type of writers are often overrepresented on the global literature stage over their "homegrown" counterparts.

鈥淔or me what鈥檚 important for a writer to be considered African is that you are connected to an African society and culture in a way that鈥檚 profound and important to you, rather than that you meet some set benchmark of 鈥淎frican-ness,鈥� Ms. Kola says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think being a person with multiple identities means the one excludes the other 鈥� there鈥檚 no reason I can鈥檛 be South African and Australian at the same time.鈥�

In fact, Kola鈥檚 shortlisted story, 鈥淎 Party for the Colonel,鈥� is an intimate examination of the often-fuzzy borders of identity and belonging in modern Africa. Set in Johannesburg in the late years of apartheid, the story explores the inner lives of an Indian couple caught between a white world they wish to emulate and a black world they are scrambling to transcend with their growing wealth.

Mr. Afolabi 鈥� a 2015 finalist who also won the Caine Prize in 2005 鈥� says his fiction is in part a response to the way his own life has straddled cultures and continents. 鈥淚 think writing is often a way to make sense of that kind of diversity of experiences.鈥�

All five of the finalists receive听鈧�500 ($760), and will travel to the University of Oxford to hear the announcement of the听鈧�10,000 ($15,200) grand-prize winner on July 6.

鈥淭he unique value of this prize is that it brings African writers to a world readership,鈥� Mr. Parsons, the judge, says. 鈥淲hile that鈥檚 good for African writers, it鈥檚 even better for the world鈥檚 readership.鈥澨�