View source for Margaret Wrong Prize for African Literature

The '''Margaret Wrong Prize for African Literature''' was an annual [[literary prize|prize]] for [[African literature]] which existed from 1950 until the early 1960s. Established in memory of the missionary and educational administrator [[Margaret Wrong]], the prize was administered by the [[International Committee on Christian Literature for Africa]]. It was awarded for "original literary work by writers of African race resident in a part of Africa to be determined each year by the Trustees".<ref name=1950Regs>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize/A7528F0CBAD13259399DB0BE7416F1F5 Margaret Wrong Prize], ''Africa'', Vol. 20, Issue 1 (January 1950), p.76</ref>
==History==
Margaret Wrong died in 1948. A year after Wrong's death, fourteen individuals - including [[Seth Irunsewe Kale]], [[Rita Hinden]], [[Lord Hailey]], [[Ida Ward]] and Wrong's partner [[Margaret Read]] – wrote to ''[[The Times]]'' announcing the intention to establish a trust for a literary prize in Wrong's memory.<ref name="Brouwer2002">{{cite book|author=Ruth Compton Brouwer|title=Modern Women Modernizing Men: The Changing Missions of Three Professional Women in Asia and Africa, 1902-69|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3mQmd0RRqgC&pg=PA171|year=2002|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-0953-5|pages=96–|chapter=Books for Africa: Margaret Wrong and the Gendering of African Literature, 1929-63}}</ref> A committee was formed, initially chaired by [[Gerald Hawkesworth]] and then by [[Christopher Cox (civil servant)|Christopher Cox]], Educational Adviser to the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]].
The award was originally given to African writers in [[European languages]] and [[Afrikaans]], with the recipient receiving both a silver medal and a money prize. In 1954, in reaction to "steady demand for the inclusion of [[African languages]]", the award of the silver medal (for writing in an African language) was separated from the money prize (for writing in a European language).<ref name=1954medal/>
==Winners==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Award !! Author !! Notes
|-
| 1950|| £5 Prize & Silver Medal || [[Gabriel-Adrien Ngbongbo]], for ''Abunawazi le méchant''.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize/502001983E1CD94674BBB3533A23C8DD Margaret Wrong Prize], ''Africa'', Vol. 22, Issue 3 (July 1952), p.278</ref> || Entries in "either [[English language|English]] or [[French language|French]]" from "[[South Sudan|Southern Sudan]], [[Somaliland]], [[Uganda]], [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]], [[Zanzibar]], and the [[Belgian Congo]]."<ref name=1950Regs/>
|-
| 1951|| £5 Prize & Silver Medal || [[Abioseh Nicol]], for 'The Devil of Yelahun Bridge'.<ref name=1951Result>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize/D7F20755BA5988835F1EFA80403700D7 Margaret Wrong Prize], ''Africa'', Vol. 23, Issue 1 (January 1953), p.74.</ref> || Entries in "English or French" from [[Gambia]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Nigeria]], [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]], [[Liberia]], [[French West Africa]], [[French Equatorial Africa]], and [[French Cameroons]]."<ref name=1951Regs>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize/8997F200BCDCE0E73D83F6EBA5CBE2A4 Margaret Wrong Prize], ''Africa'', Vol. 21, Issue 1 (January 1951), p.68</ref><ref name="Bush2016">{{cite book|author=Ruth Bush|title=Publishing Africa in French: Literary Institutions and Decolonization 1945-1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JofADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1-78138-195-3|page=95}}</ref>
|-
| 1952|| £5 Prize & Silver Medal || [[Óscar Ribas]], for 'A Praga'.<ref name=1952Result>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize-result-of-1952-competition/9C1049052D8CB5B1953F857B608DEC1D Margaret Wrong Prize: Result of 1952 Competition], ''Africa'', Vol. 23, Issue 3 (July 1953), p.252</ref> || Entries "in English or [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]" from "[[Northern Rhodesia|Northern]] and [[Southern Rhodesia]], [[Nyasaland]], [[Portuguese East Africa]] and [[Angola]]".<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize/D21CC7548771CB454F0FECB8FA5EEC8F Margaret Wrong Prize], ''Africa'', Vol. 2, Issue 1 (January 1952), p.80</ref>
|-
| 1953|| Prize & Medal ||  || Entries "in English, [[Afrikaans]] or French" from "the [[Union of South Africa]], the [[High Commissioner for Southern Africa|High Commissions Territories]] and [[Madagasgar]]".<ref name=1952Result/>
|-
| 1954|| £20 Prize || [[Issa Keita]], for the essay 'L'Esprit de Conteur noir'. Also commended: [[F. James Oto]] and [[Bernard M. Onyango]].<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/result-of-the-margaret-wrong-prize-competition-in-1954/D09278DF8820603B6702D71A046530FB Result of the Margaret Wrong Prize Competition in 1954], ''Africa'', Vol. 25, Issue 3 (July 1955) p.279</ref> || Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or [[Afrikaans]]" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".<ref name=1954prize>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize-competition-1954/FC52F2AB2D39D0A9BCE91F1510AC2595 Maragaret Wrong Prize Competition], ''Africa'', Vol. 24, Issue 1 (January 1954), p.54</ref>
|-
| 1954|| Silver Medal || [[Michael B. Nsimbi]], for ''Waggumbulizi''.<ref name=1954medal>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-medal-1954/34745694CE6B3729F88257DBAA6592B1 Margaret Wrong Medal, 1954], ''Africa'', Vol. 25, Issue 4 (October 1955)</ref> || Entries in "an [[Languages of Africa|African language]] or [[Arabic language|Arabic]]", from "[[Belgian Congo]] (including [[Ruanda-Urundi]]), [[South Sudan|Southern Sudan]], [[Uganda]], [[Kenya]], [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] or [[Zanzibar]]".<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-medal-1954/BE5ABF63886C9BCE879641E23361A251 The Margaret Wrong Medal 1954], ''Africa'', Vol. 24, Issue 2 (April 1954), p.166</ref>
|-
| 1955|| £20 Prize || [[Sannuo Lazare]] for 'Mon pays d'Hier'.<ref name=1955Results>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-memorial-awards/F1B2E98347EB71A57B73FB3293193766 Margaret Wrong Memorial Awards], ''Africa'', Vol. 27, Issue 1 (January 1957), p.82</ref> || Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or Afrikaans" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize-competition/4A532A5A3F2C85694C31125177DD5869 Margaret Wrong Prize Competition], ''Africa'', Vol. 25, Issue 1 (January 1955), p.83</ref>
|-
| 1955|| Silver Medal || [[D. O. Fagunwa]] for ''Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje''.<ref name=1955Results/> || Entries in "an [[Languages of Africa|African language]]" from "West Africa, including [[French West Africa|French West]] and [[French Equatorial Africa]], [[Liberia]], [[Gambia]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]], and [[Nigeria]]".<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-medal/B2A20D45BC4DBE7D82B549DB7E88367C Margaret Wrong Prize: Regulations 1955], ''Africa'', Vol. 25, Issue 1 (January 1955), p.90</ref>
|-
| 1956|| £25 Prize || [[A. W. Kayper-Mensah]] for ''Light in Jungle Africa''. Second prize (£10) to [[Wole Soyinka]] for ''Oji River'', third prize (£5) to [[Asavia Wandira]] for ''The Church Missionary Society in Bugosa District, Uganda''.<ref name=1956Results>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-memorial-fund-awards-for-1956/33CD3745D4ADA5E8BAC141AE8414F511 Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Awards for 1958], ''Africa'', Vol. 27, Issue 4 (October 1957)</ref> || Entries in "English, French, Portuguese or Afrikaans" from "any part of Africa south of the Sahara".<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-prize-competition/1C0C593AB3233645B5788959008F80D8 Maragaret Wrong Prize Competition], ''Africa'', Vol. 26, Issue 1 (January 1956), p.61</ref>
|-
| 1956|| Silver Medal || [[M. C. Mainza]], for ''Kabuka Uleta Tunji''.<ref name=1956Results/>
|-
| 1957|| Prize and Medal || [[James Ranisi Jolobe]]<ref name="Verwey1995">{{cite book|author=E. J. Verwey|title=New Dictionary of South African Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rl8nkyID3WsC|year=1995|publisher=HSRC Press|isbn=978-0-7969-1648-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_rl8nkyID3WsC/page/n120 108]|chapter=JOLOBE, James James Ranisi}}</ref> ||
|-
| 1958|| Prize and Medal || [[Alexis Kagame]]<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C9EDCDAB0816FBFDF870E42AF5AA7636/S0001972000060290a.pdf/margaret-wrong-memorial-fund-award-for-1958.pdf Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1958], ''Africa'', Vol. 29, Issue 3 (July 1959)</ref> ||
|-
| 1959|| || [[Chinua Achebe]] ||
|-
| 1960|| Prize and Medal || [[Shaaban Robert]]<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-memorial-fund-award-for-1960/71FDF8F1DFA4608A00F3886AD7D1D6AD Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1960], ''Africa'', Vol. 31, Issue 3 (July 1961), p.282</ref> ||
|-
| 1961|| Prize & Medal || [[S. A. Mpashi]]<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-memorial-fund-award-for-1961/8C4EFA7A6187BDC35E6C5A8C32894EC4 Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1961], Vol. 32, Issue 4 (October 1962)</ref> ||
|-
| 1962|| Award || [[Mallam Abukbakar Imam]] for services as [[Hausa language|Hausa]] editor of ''Gaskiye Ta Fi Kwabo''. [[Wole Soyinka]] for originality as a playwright.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/margaret-wrong-memorial-fund-award-for-1962/1FE409BA9FF814493FFD928E7014D06A Margaret Wrong Memorial Fund: Award for 1962], Vol. 33, Issue 3 (July 1963), p.270</ref> ||
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1950 establishments in Africa]]
[[Category:African literary awards]]
{{lit-award-stub}}