Burt Award for African Literature Provides Young Readers in Tanzania with Outstanding Books
January 23, 2012
Three new outstanding young adult fiction books will be made available to Tanzanian readers thanks to the third round of the Burt Award for African Literature – Tanzania. Winners of the most recent edition of the award were recognized on November 25th, 2011, at a ceremony organized by CODE’s local partner the Children’s Book Project for Tanzania (CBP) at the National Book Fair in Dar es Salaam, organized by the Book Development Council of Tanzania.
The first prize went to Tune S. Salim for her novel Close Calls, while the second and third prizes were awarded to Nahida Esmail for Lessilie The City Masai and Juma Mwamgwirani Mwakimatu forThe Choice, respectively. Close Calls and Lessilie The City Masai were published by Oxford University Press and The Choice was published by Mkuki Na Nyota. CBP will distribute 3,000 copies of each title to 146 project schools.
Canadian High Commissioner to Tanzania Robert Orr attended the ceremony, and presented the authors with their prizes. The young winners of national reading, drawing, painting and quiz competitions were also in attendance — many of whom were from the CBP-supported Matkaba Primary School.
Sponsored by CODE through the generous contributions of William Burt’s Literary Prizes Foundation, the Burt Award for African Literature is an annual award recognizing excellence in young adult fiction from African countries. It addresses an ongoing shortage of books for young people, while promoting a love of reading and 
learning. Tanzania was the first country where the award was introduced in 2008. Since that time, nine books have been published and 27,000 copies have been distributed to young readers across the country. In addition to Tanzania, the award is now also presented in Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana.
At the ceremony, Mr. Orr donated an additional 400 copies of the winning books from the first two rounds to the Tanzania National Library.
Pilli Dumea, Executive Secretary, Children’s Book Project for Tanzania, Robert Orr, Canadian High Commissioner, and Abdullah Saiwaad, Chair of the Board, Children’s Book Project for Tanzania
- Read more about the Burt Award for African Literature – Tanzania and the award-winning titles.
