ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the value of creative writing in African languages within the African literary prize industry. In particular, it reviews deliberate efforts by award industries to expand cultural and literary boundaries through selected languages, and the effect that this has had on the East African literary scene. Since the late twentieth century, in the African literary field, international literary awards such as the Booker Prize, the Caine Prize for African Writing and the Commonwealth Prize have played an important role in shaping the field of African literature. There are other fully or partly Africa-based prizes whose influence on contemporary African writing has also been significant. Pierre Bourdieu and James English both note that the process of submission for awards, selection, shortlisting and eventual process of awarding literature is determined mainly by power relations between the systems of cultural production and consumption.
