Caine Prize shortlist

The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced its shortlisted short stories:

Ken Barris (South Africa) for "The Life of Worm," from New Writing from Africa 2009. Writes the Guardian, "the story of a very anxious man with an almost uncontrollable dog. Barris has said that the story is an "ever so slightly" exaggerated version of his own experiences as the anxious owner of a difficult dog.

Lily Mabura (Kenya) for "How Shall We Kill the Bishop?" from Wasafiri No53, Spring 2008, which the Guardian summarises as being about "religious hierarchy in a north Kenyan town."

Namwali Serpell (Zambia) for "Muzungu," from The Best American Short Stories 2009, described by two.one.five magazine as an exploration of race and class in Zambia "through the eyes of a snotty eight-year-old girl."

Alex Smith (South Africa) for "Soulmates," from New Writing from Africa 2009, described by the Guardian as "a fictionalised account of the first recorded mixed race love affair in Africa, in which a white woman finds love with an African slave."

Olufemi Terry (Sierra Leone) for "Stickfighting Days," from Chimurenga vol 12/13 (Guardian: "in which adolescent boys fight and sniff glue in a city rubbish dump.")