Friday, March 29, 2024

‘The great African novel of the 21st century’: Namwali Serpell wins Arthur C Clarke award

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Namwali Serpell has won the UK’s top prize for science fiction, the Arthur C Clarke award, for her first novel The Old Drift, which judges described as “stealth sci-fi”.

The Zambian author’s debut tells the stories of three families over three generations, moving from a colonial settlement by Victoria Falls at the turn of the 20th century, to the 1960s as Zambia attempts to send a woman to the moon, and into the near future.

A mix of historical fiction, magical realism and sci-fi, Serpell saw off competition from authors including previous winner Adrian Tchaikovsky and Hugo best novel winner Arkady Martine to take the prize.

Originally established by the author Arthur C Clarke with the aim of promoting science fiction in Britain, the award goes to the best sci-fi novel of the year.

Chair of judges Andrew M Butler called The Old Drift “an extraordinary family saga that spans eras from Cecil Rhodes to Rhodes Must Fall, and beyond”, praising it for “interrogat[ing] colonialism from within and point[ing] to the science fictionality of everyday events”.

“The Old Drift is, as one of our judges put it, ‘stealth sci-fi’, with inheritance and infection at its heart,” said Butler. “Our pandemic-ravaged world reminds us how connected our world has been for the last century or more – and this book points to the global nature of science fiction.”

Last year’s winner of the prize, Tade Thompson, called The Old Drift “the great African novel of the 21st century”.

“At last, a book that acknowledges that the African lives with the fantastic and mundane. At last, an African book of unarguable universality,” said Thompson.

“Serpell has created something specifically Zambian and generally African at the same time. The Old Drift is everything fiction should be, and everything those of us who write should aspire to. Hats off. A well-deserved win.”

And President Lungu took to Facebook to congratulate Serpell on the achievement.

It is heartwarming to learn that a Zambian writer Namwali Serpell has won the UK’s top prize for science fiction, the Arthur C Clarke award, for her first novel ‘The Old Drift’. I believe that this recognition is a great endorsement for writers of Zambian origin or stories from a Zambian inspired context. This is also a motivation for other writers and artists,” President Lungu said.

9 COMMENTS

  1. With my old age, for a second I thought that was shala mwana on the picture.

    This is great news. The president was very proud when we spoke about this. He has requested us to make direct contact with this amazing writer who is representing Zambia well. The upnd supporting evil diasporans can learn a thing or two from this brilliant woman. Cleaning toilets and ranting about our government on lusaka times will not take you places

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  2. Must be worth reading. It’s unfortunate that culture of reading novels and books has taken a downturn in the smartphone era. Many people, especially the young ones have less time and interest. All the more respect and congratulations to Namwali for this achievement.

  3. This is her second win for the same book. The cash prize for that, $167,000 was huge and we are now learning that she shared the money ($10,000 each) with all the nominees. Read it if you can; it will make you think twice about Covid-19 and technology.

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