Margaret Wrong Prize for African Literature

The Margaret Wrong Prize for African Literature was an annual prize for African literature which existed from 1950 until the early 1960s. Established in memory of the missionary and educational administrator Margaret Wrong, the prize was administered by the International Committee on Christian Literature for Africa. It was awarded for "original literary work by writers of African race resident in a part of Africa to be determined each year by the Trustees".[1]

History

Margaret Wrong died in 1948. A year after Wrong's death, fourteen individuals - including Seth Irunsewe Kale, Rita Hinden, Lord Hailey, Ida Ward and Wrong's partner Margaret Read – wrote to The Times announcing the intention to establish a trust for a literary prize in Wrong's memory.[2] A committee was formed, initially chaired by Gerald Hawkesworth and then by Christopher Cox, Educational Adviser to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The award was originally given to African writers in European languages and Afrikaans, with the recipient receiving both a silver medal and a money prize. In 1954, in reaction to "steady demand for the inclusion of African languages", the award of the silver medal (for writing in an African language) was separated from the money prize (for writing in a European language).[3]

Winners
YearAwardAuthorNotes
1950£5 Prize & Silver MedalGabriel-Adrien Ngbongbo, for Abunawazi le méchant.[4]Entries in "either English or French" from "Southern Sudan, Somaliland, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, and the Belgian Congo."[1]
1951£5 Prize & Silver MedalAbioseh Nicol, for 'The Devil of Yelahun Bridge'.[5]Entries in "English or French" from Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Gold Coast, Liberia, French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, and French Cameroons."[6][7]
1952£5 Prize & Silver MedalÓscar Ribas, for 'A Praga'.[8]Entries "in English or Portuguese" from "Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa and Angola".[9]
1953Prize & MedalEntries "in English, Afrikaans or French" from "the Union of South Africa, the High Commissions Territories and Madagasgar".[8]
1954£20 PrizeIssa Keita, for the essay 'L'Esprit de Conteur noir'. Also commended: F. James Oto and Bernard M. Onyango.[10]Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or Africaans" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".[11]
1954Silver MedalMichael B. Nsimbi, for Waggumbulizi.[3]Entries in "an African language or Arabic", from "Belgian Congo (including Ruanda-Urundi), Southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika or Zanzibar".[12]
1955£20 PrizeSannuo Lazare for 'Mon pays d'Hier'.[13]Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or Afrikaans" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".[14]
1955Silver MedalD. O. Fagunwa for Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje.[13]Entries in "an African language" from "West Africa, including French West and French Equatorial Africa, Liberia, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, and Nigeria".[15]
1956£25 PrizeA. W. Kayper-Mensah for Light in Jungle Africa. Second prize (£10) to Wole Soyinka for Oji River, third prize (£5) to Asavia Wandira for The Church Missionary Society in Bugosa District, Uganda.[16]Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or Afrikaans" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".[17]
1956Silver MedalM. C. Mainza, for Kabuka Uleta Tunji.[16]
1957Prize and MedalJames Ranisi Jolobe[18]
1958Prize and MedalAlexis Kagame[19]
1959Chinua Achebe
1960Prize and MedalShaaban Robert[20]
1961Prize & MedalS. A. Mpashi[21]
1962AwardMallam Abukbakar Imam for services as Hausa editor of Gaskiye Ta Fi Kwabo. Wole Soyinka for originality as a playwright.[22]

References
  1. Margaret Wrong Prize, Africa, Vol. 20, Issue 1 (January 1950), p.76
  2. Ruth Compton Brouwer (2002). "Books for Africa: Margaret Wrong and the Gendering of African Literature, 1929-63". Modern Women Modernizing Men: The Changing Missions of Three Professional Women in Asia and Africa, 1902-69. UBC Press. pp. 96–. ISBN 978-0-7748-0953-5.
  3. Margaret Wrong Medal, 1954, Africa, Vol. 25, Issue 4 (October 1955)
  4. Margaret Wrong Prize, Africa, Vol. 22, Issue 3 (July 1952), p.278
  5. Margaret Wrong Prize, Africa, Vol. 23, Issue 1 (January 1953), p.74.
  6. Margaret Wrong Prize, Africa, Vol. 21, Issue 1 (January 1951), p.68
  7. Ruth Bush (2016). Publishing Africa in French: Literary Institutions and Decolonization 1945-1967. Oxford University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-78138-195-3.
  8. Margaret Wrong Prize: Result of 1952 Competition, Africa, Vol. 23, Issue 3 (July 1953), p.252
  9. Margaret Wrong Prize, Africa, Vol. 2, Issue 1 (January 1952), p.80
  10. Result of the Margaret Wrong Prize Competition in 1954, Africa, Vol. 25, Issue 3 (July 1955) p.279
  11. Maragaret Wrong Prize Competition, Africa, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (January 1954), p.54
  12. The Margaret Wrong Medal 1954, Africa, Vol. 24, Issue 2 (April 1954), p.166
  13. Margaret Wrong Memorial Awards, Africa, Vol. 27, Issue 1 (January 1957), p.82
  14. Margaret Wrong Prize Competition, Africa, Vol. 25, Issue 1 (January 1955), p.83
  15. Margaret Wrong Prize: Regulations 1955, Africa, Vol. 25, Issue 1 (January 1955), p.90
  16. Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Awards for 1958, Africa, Vol. 27, Issue 4 (October 1957)
  17. Maragaret Wrong Prize Competition, Africa, Vol. 26, Issue 1 (January 1956), p.61
  18. E. J. Verwey (1995). "JOLOBE, James James Ranisi". New Dictionary of South African Biography. HSRC Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7969-1648-8.
  19. Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1958, Africa, Vol. 29, Issue 3 (July 1959)
  20. Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1960, Africa, Vol. 31, Issue 3 (July 1961), p.282
  21. Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1961, Vol. 32, Issue 4 (October 1962)
  22. Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1962, Vol. 33, Issue 3 (July 1963), p.270
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