* US-based Tope Folarin beats four others to the £10,000 Prize US-based Nigerian writer Tope Folarin has won this year's prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing. He received the £10,000 ($15,000) prize for his short story **Miracle** (published by Transition in 2012), which is set in an evangelical Nigerian church in the US state of Texas. The judges described it as a "delightful and beautifully paced narrative".
This is the second consecutive year that a Nigerian has won the prize. Last year's winner was Rotimi Babatunde for his story **Bombay's Republic** –about Nigerian soldiers who fought in the Burma campaign during World War II.
Mr. Folarin was among five writers short-listed for the prize, regarded as Africa's leading literary award.
Three other short-listed Nigerians were: Elnathan John for **Bayan Layi**; Abubakar Adam Ibrahim for **The Whispering Trees** and Chinelo Okparanta for **America**.
Sierra Leone's Pede Hollist was the only non-Nigerian short-listed for his short story **Foreign Aid**, while Ms. Okparanta was the only female contender.
The chair of judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, awarded Folarin the prize at a dinner held on Monday, July 8 at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University in the UK.
"Tope Folarin's Miracle is another superb Caine Prize winner – a delightful and beautifully paced narrative, that is exquisitely observed and utterly compelling", Casey-Hayford said.
**In Miracle**, a congregation gathers at a church to witness the healing powers of a blind pastor-prophet.
"Religion and the gullibility of those caught in the deceit that sometimes comes with faith rise to the surface as a young boy volunteers to be healed and begins to believe in miracles", the Caine Prize said in a statement.
Tope Folarin was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Master's degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. He serves on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation.
The Caine Prize for African Writing is named in memory of the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker Plc. The winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity to take up a month's residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and will be invited to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September.
National Mirror