| Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author of The Theory of Flight and The History of Man, was among the eight winners of this year’s prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize. The award, which “calls attention to literary achievement and provides writers with the opportunity to focus on their work independent of financial concerns,” is administered by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. Siphiwe is joined by two other African writers on this year’s recipient list, Emmanuel Iduma from Nigeria and fellow Zimbabwean Tsitsi Dangarembga, who said of Siphiwe’s win, “I am delighted to see that Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu is a recipient of the Windham Campbell Award for Fiction this year. This is an extraordinary distinction, one that is particularly meaningful for Zimbabwean literature at a time when political repression and economic stagnation undermine artistic expression in the country.” In the announcement on the organization’s website, Siphiwe is called “both a chronicler and a conjurer whose soaring imagination creates a Zimbabwean past made of anguish and hope, of glory and despair.” The prize, which comes with a $165,000 award, gives writers the time and the space they need to create without financial concerns, something that Siphiwe looks forward to. “I cannot even begin to fully articulate all the amazing things that this prize means for me at this stage in my career,” Siphiwe says. “There are still so many stories waiting to be told and now thanks to the Windham-Campbell Prizes at Yale, I will be able to tell them. I am both immensely honored and deeply humbled by this recognition.” All of us at Catalyst Press send our hugest congratulations to this talented author, and we can’t wait to see what she creates next. Visit the Windham-Campbell website to see the full list of winners. |