Caine prize goes to ‘incandescent’ short story by Idza Luhumyo

Five Years Next Sunday, about an ostracised girl who holds the fate of her community in her hair', wins 10,000 award for African writing in English

Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo has won the 2022 AKO Caine prize for African writing, with a short story judges described as incandescent".

Five Years Next Sunday, first published in the book Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa, is about a young woman with the unique power to call the rain in her hair. Feared by her family and community, a chance encounter with a foreigner changes her fortunes, but there are duplicitous designs upon her most prized and vulnerable possession.