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| 'Taboo' story takes African prize | |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| The Ugandan writer who won the Caine Prize for African Writing with a story about lesbianism, often a taboo topic in Africa, says she is "very excited". | |
| Monica Arac de Nyeko beat four other finalists to get the $20,000 (£10,000) prize for her story Jambula Tree. | Monica Arac de Nyeko beat four other finalists to get the $20,000 (£10,000) prize for her story Jambula Tree. |
| It is about a relationship between young girls in a country where homosexuality is illegal. | |
| "I'm not a lesbian but I do think it's a difficult subject, like... writing about Uganda's history," she said. | |
| She's taking on a theme that Africans have been in denial about Publisher Becky Ayebia Clarke | |
| The Caine Prize, announced in Oxford on Monday night, is considered a major award in African creative writing. | |
| Jambula Tree was described as "witty and mischievous" by the judges. | |
| Her publisher Becky Ayebia Clarke said when she first read the story she thought "how brave" Ms Arac de Nyeko was to take on the subject. | |
| "In Africa these are not the kind of stories we're allowed to tell. She's taking on a theme that Africans have been in denial about - a theme about same sex love." | |
| 'Walls' | |
| "The Jambula Tree is about the relationship between two young girls in a very complex social setting in a community which does not look kindly at that relationship," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme. | |
| There are a lot of difficult things that I think we need to talk about and not build walls of huge emotion Monica Arac de Nyeko | |
| "It's a combination of struggle and the power to dream and love," she said. | |
| "There are a lot of difficult things that I think we need to talk about and not build walls of huge emotion so that they're almost impassable." | |
| She said the jambula tree signified various things in the story. | |
| "First of all the jambula tree is where you have the neighbour who has been stealthily watching the two girls - their relationship unfold - over a significant amount of time." | |
| While, the small fruit from the tree represents breasts. | |
| "Jambula in this story is also an image for breasts... they're teenagers so they could well be mosquito bites, in this case jambulas." | |
| Praying | |
| The Caine Prize can be given to an African writer who has been published on the continent or elsewhere. | |
| The prize also includes a month as "writer in residence" at a US university. | The prize also includes a month as "writer in residence" at a US university. |
| During her acceptance speech, Ms Arac de Nyeko said the prize was a "very exciting time for Ugandan fiction" and that she would immediately call her sister. | |
| "I'll get on the phone and get my sister to stop praying - because she's been on her knees probably for a very long time," she said. | |
| Monica Arac de Nyeko was born in 1979 in northern Uganda - the scene of one of the world's longest civil wars. | |
| The other writers on the shortlist were: | The other writers on the shortlist were: |
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| Last year, South Africa's Mary Watson was the seventh winner of the Caine Prize. | Last year, South Africa's Mary Watson was the seventh winner of the Caine Prize. |