Announcing the 2026 Iska Book Prize Shortlist!

This year, we received more submissions than ever before, with exceptional manuscripts arriving from across the African continent. The range, ambition, and diversity of the submissions made selecting a shortlist of eight an incredibly difficult task.

We are convinced now, more than ever, that a new wave of thematically and stylistically diverse fiction is emerging across the continent. Writers are experimenting with genre, form, language, and structure, while exploring complex and often controversial themes.

The 2026 shortlist reflects some of the most genre-bending and boundary-pushing fiction we encountered this year.

The Iska Book Prize exists to expand the definition of African literature and amplify perspectives that take risks with form, play with language, and challenge expectations of African storytelling. The manuscripts on this shortlist do exactly that. They experiment boldly, disrupt assumptions about what makes a story pleasurable or political, and, in some cases, approach the traditional form of the novel only to reshape or reject it.

But this prize is about more than recognition.

The grand prize winner will receive $1,000 and publication with Iska Press in Fall 2026.

And the opportunity does not end with the winner.

Shortlisted authors may also have the opportunity to be published by Iska Press. We are excited to continue engaging with these writers and the remarkable manuscripts that brought them to this stage.

We believe this year’s shortlist represents exciting possibilities for the future of African fiction, and we cannot wait to see where these writers take their work next.

Join us in congratulating our eight shortlisted authors on this remarkable achievement!

Read more about the shortlisted writers below:

1. Melissa Webster - Who We Were, Where We Are

Melissa Webster is a South African author who was born near the Magaliesberg Mountains and grew up in the Eastern Cape. She works as a freelance writer and instructor and holds an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her work has appeared in literary journals in South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United States, and she scripted the award-winning Zimbabwean short film Freestate as well as an optioned feature film. Who We Were, Where We Are is her first novel. The manuscript was listed for both the McKitterick Prize and the Cinnamon Press Literature Award in 2024.

2. Glen Retief -The Tapework Chronicles

Glen Retief's The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood won a 2012 Lambda Literary Award and was selected as an Africa Book Club pick. Retief has published dozens of short stories, memoirs and personal essays in respected literary journals and also writes an occasional column of creative nonfiction for Daily Maverick.

A native of South Africa, Retief teaches creative nonfiction and literature at Susquehanna University. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a Fulbright Scholar in Mamelodi, South Africa, where he helped develop a creative writing-based curriculum to build academic skills and motivation for underprivileged high school student.

3. Gabriel Awuah Mainoo - Keteke Symphony

Gabriel Awuah Mainoo is a Ghanaian creative practitioner. He has received fellowships from Hong Kong Baptist University, Aarhus Literature Center in Denmark, the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora, Wintertuin Curaçao and others. He is also a grant recipient of the Danish Art Foundation through the South Gate Creative Writing School.

Mainoo is the author of Lyrical Textiles, We Are Moulting Birds, and a co-author of Hvor End Havet Skyller Dig Op. His awards include the 2025–2026 Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize, the Africa Haiku Prize, the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora Chapbook Prize, the Singapore Poetry Prize, the 6th Ghana Association of Writers Literary Awards, the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize and the 1st Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry, among others.

He edits poetry for The Journal of African Youth Literature, and his work has appeared in publications including The London Reader, The New Orleans Review, FIYAH Magazine, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Fire, Wales Haiku Journal and The Woodward Review.

4. Ishola Abdulwasiu Ayodele - A Conspiration of Guardian Demons

Ishola Abdulwasiu Ayodele is a creative writer, visual artist and educator. A finalist for the 2023 Isele Magazine Short Story Prize and winner of the 2022 Ibua Journal Continental Poetry Prize, his work has appeared in or is forthcoming in publications including Iskanchi, Brittle Paper, African Writer, Isele Magazine and Omenana.

His work has also appeared in anthologies including The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction 2022, SpaceFunk and Sauúti Terrors.

5. C. S. Hadebe - The Ones Who Were Murdered But Lived.

C. S. Hadebe is a South African writer and editor born and based in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. His fictional works have been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the SA Writers College Short Story Competition, and he received an Honourable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.

He was also featured in The Shallow Tales Review's Best of a Shallow Year as a recipient of Best Essay in 2022. His work has appeared in The Shallow Tales Review, Lolwe, The Kalahari Review and elsewhere.

6. David Obongekong David - Ready to Exhale

David Obongekong David is a Nigerian scholar, writer, educator and cultural entrepreneur. He is Professor of Comparative Literature at El-Roi London University and Visiting Professor at Weldios University of Management and Technology.

He is the founder of Nigerian Books of Record, READS Campaign Africa and Rekordbreakers, initiatives focused on documenting human achievement, advancing literacy and education and amplifying stories of excellence.

His work spans literature, education, cultural advocacy and institution-building, with a particular interest in identity, history and the power of storytelling. He writes under the name David David and has received multiple honorary doctorates and international recognition.

7. Harsoite Oulfat - Ta-Nub

Harsoite Oulfat is a translator by training and a writer. Born in France, with roots in the Comorian diaspora, she draws from her lived experiences to nourish her creative craft. Her work explores rich Afro-descendant narratives through a distinctive lens that views writing as an essential act of survival. Ta-Nub is her debut novella.

8. Nana Kusi Minkah-Premo - The Otu Palaver

Nana Kusi Minkah-Premo is a multidisciplinary Ghanaian artist who tells stories through music and writing. Building on five years of sharing short stories and essays on Substack and a limited author’s edition of his debut novella, The Otu Palaver, he is now seeking traditional trade publication for the novella.

A graduate of the Nairobi Writing Academy’s Introduction to Short Story Writing course, Nana Kusi is passionate about learning and reclaiming what he can of his African identity as an Akan, a theme he explores through his writing. Nana Kusi currently lives in his native Ghana, where he combines his love of storytelling with work as an entrepreneur, yoga teacher, music producer and saxophonist.

Finally, we are grateful to every writer who trusted Iska with their manuscript. We know what it means to place your work in someone else’s hands, and we are honoured that you chose to share your stories with us. We hope you’ll consider Iska again next year.

The winner of the 2026 Iska Book Prize will be announced at a virtual event in August. Stay tuned for more details on how to register and join us for the announcement.

Until next time,

Thank you for being part of the Iska community. Whether you are a reader, a writer, or simply someone who believes in the power of a good story, we are glad you are here.