Biographies of the Shortlisted Authors-2022
- Joe Nyirenda
Short story; Until Mushrooms Sprout
Country; Zambia
Joe Nyirenda and is a 26 years old male Zambian living in Lusaka, Zambia. He is an avid reader and passionate writer. His short story, The Red Scarf was shortlisted for publication in a local anthology in 2020, titled Siter Wives and Other Stories, by Myaambo Cooperative. In 2021 my other short story, The Last Supper, was shortlisted for publication by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in a themed anthology on reimagining the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of the Corona Virus pandemic, titled Beans without Korkor? And Other Stories.
- Beverley Ann Abrahams
Short story; Isithunzi
Country: Zimbabwe
Beverley Ann Abrahams is a Zimbabwean teacher of English and Art & Design, a writer and activist against gender-based violence. She has been published in two anthologies of international poets: “Ps:its poetry” (2020) and “Ps: its still poetry” (2021)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P1P6MB8She was published in a regional poetry anthology of Sadc female human rights defenders in 2021 : “Mwala: The Rock https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pemiz7j4krzl7sn/AABmQTbYovQhWmQratGhCSh3a?dl=0
She was shortlisted for the Intwasa 2021 short-story competition, and is published in their second anthology of Zimbabwean short stories. Beverley is a single mother to four amazing children.
- Scholastica Moraa
Short Story; Chained
Country; Kenya
Scholastica Moraa is a Kenyan author and poet. She is a graduate from Jaramogi University with a Bsc in Actuarial Science. She is the author of a collection of poems titled ‘Beautiful Mess’. One of her short stories ‘6 days to twenty’ was long listed in the Kendeka Prize for African Literature 2021. When she is not writing, she is deeply immersed in a novel or two. She loves travelling, making new friends, learning new languages and overthinking
- Ola W. Halim
Hort Story; Ashes on Platters of Gold
Country; Nigeria
Ola W. Halim writes from a small village in Edo State, Nigeria. His work has been shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Prize 2022, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2021, and nominated for the Pushcart and Caine Prizes. He is a 2022 Laddership Fellow for Emerging African Authors. Ola is interested in telling stories less frequently told.
5. Adaora Raji
Short Story; Star Boy
Country; Nigeria
Adaora Raji works as a scriptwriter and content producer for Playroom Media, and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Benin, Nigeria. Her fiction has appeared in Arlington Literary Journal, Midnight and Indigo Literary Journal, the Coachella Review, the Bookends Review and was on the Anthology list of the 2021 Toyin Falola Afrofuturism Prize.
