大象传媒

The Caine Prize for African Writing has been championing literature from the continent for almost a quarter of a century, granting early recognition to writers such as NoViolet Bulawayo and Binyavanga Wainaina.

But this year the award for a short story by an African writer published in English - which had a record-breaking 297 entries from 28 different countries - has broken new ground with victory for a joint entry.

Senegalese married couple Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo won for their story A Soul of Small Places. They told Newsday鈥檚 Victoria Uwonkunda how they were feeling the morning after the award ceremony.

Mame: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot to take in. The story could not have been written if I hadn鈥檛 met Woppa.鈥�
Woppa: 鈥淭he story is simply my life鈥� my fights against gender-based violence.鈥�

(Pic: Mame Bougouma Diene, Woppa Diallo and baby; Credit: Woppa Diallo)