This year’s edition of the Golden Baobab Prize has put together a diverse and international jury of experts. They represent six countries from around the world as well as unique perspectives from various facets of the children’s literature industry. Collectively, the jury brings nearly 100 years of experience in children’s literature to the selection of the winner and finalists and reflect the rigor underlying the Golden Baobab Prize’s processes.
According to Deborah Ahenkorah Osei-Agyekum, the Executive Director of Golden Baobab, “We are proud of the strength of this year’s judging panel and their wealth of experience. The Golden Baobab Prize continues to show strong commitment to young perspectives in children’s literature with the inclusion of two accomplished young judges in this year’s jury.”
The jury for the 2016 Golden Baobab Literature Prize are:
- Nonikiwe Mashologu (South Africa), former chairperson of IBBY South Africa and renowned literary critic of African children’s books.
- Rutendo Chabikwa (Zimbabwe), novelist, poet and former winner of the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers.
- Daphne Lee (Malaysia), editor, Scholastic Asia; children’s book writer; nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature.
- Kofi Anyimadu (Ghana), young author, book lover and former judge of the Golden Baobab Prize for Illustrators.
- Brenda Randolph (USA), founder of Africa Access which organizes the prestigious annual Children’s Africana Book Awards.
- Lanre Shasore (Nigeria), team lead at Quramo, a Nigerian publishing house with children’s imprint, Mango Books.
The Golden Baobab Prize awards finalist writers with African and international publishing opportunities as well as widespread publicity. The winner of each Golden Baobab Prize receives this finalist package as well as a cash prize of 5,000 USD. The winners of the 2016 Golden Baobab Prizes for African Children’s Literature will be announced on November 21st, 2016.
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