Toni Kan wins the NDDC/Ken Saro-Wiwa prize for prose
Toni Kan has won the NDDC Ken Saro-Wiwa prize for his collection Nights of the Creaking Bed. The prize was awarded at the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) awards gala night on Saturday 31st October. The book was published in 2008 by Cassava Republic Press.
On winning the award, Toni had this to say, "The ANA awards is the most credible and widely respected literary awards in Nigeria today. I am happy to have received this honour which is, above all else, a recognition of my work and the resurgence of a publishing industry with companies like Cassava Republic at the forefront."
'My mother said there was something they drank that made their voices sour, something that made their voices hoarse and hollow like a ghost's spectral cough.'
These first words of a story about a bus conductor – initially light hearted but quickly turning dark – demonstrate Toni Kan's unique way with words.
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3 comments:
Congrats to Toni Kan.
I am proud to be an African. I am happy when I see young literary folks coming up to replace the aging men and women. We had Wole Soyinka, Achebe, Emecheta, Elechi, etc now there are Sefi Atta, Toni Kan, Osondu, Okri, Chimamanda etc. Though I am not a Nigerian, I am glad for these folks....congrats
I hope that through this more people we'll read Toni's book and other African writers. In my opinon, Nights of the Creaking Bed is one of the best collection of stories that have read in a long time. Kudos to Toni and to Cassava Republic. Keep up the good work.
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