2026 Judging Panel
This year’s panel assembles a formidable mix of talent, insight and expertise spanning arts and culture at the highest level. Drawn from different creative fields, they reflect the multidisciplinary expertise the Prize celebrates.
Joining Chair of Judges Bola Mosuro, are Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Orsod Malik, Siphiwo Mahala & Sheila Atim MBE.
2026 Judging Panel
Chair of Judges
Bola Mosuro
Broadcaster & Journalist
For over three decades, Bola Mosuro was a familiar voice for BBC World Service listeners, presenting on Network Africa, Focus on Africa and Newsday. She’s produced various programmes and documentaries including ‘The Story of Africa’, a radio history series for the BBC.
Sheila Atim MBE.
Actress, Singer, Composer & Playwright
Sheila Atim MBE is a Ugandan-British actress, singer, composer, and playwright. Film credits include The Woman King (Sony) - earning a BAFTA Rising Star nomination and the Chopard Trophy at Cannes - Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness (Marvel), Mufasa and Pinocchio (Disney), Bruised (TIFF Rising Star Award), Dust Bunny (Thunder Road Pictures), and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24). She earned the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in Girl From the North Country (Old Vic/Noël Coward). She holds an MBE for services to drama.
Orsod Malik
Writer & Curator
Orsod Malik is a Sudani curator of exhibitions and archives, writer, independent researcher, and the Executive Director of the Stuart Hall Foundation. He currently serves as a Trustee at The Common Guild, a visual arts organisation in Glasgow. Malik has curated exhibitions and developed programmes for several cultural organisations including, the Stuart Hall Foundation, International Curators Forum (ICF), Black Cultural Archives, Institute of International Visual Arts (iniva), Prince Claus Fund and the British Council.
Siphiwo Mahala
Writer, Editor & Academic
Siphiwo Mahala is a multi-award-winning South African writer and academic, plying his trade in English and isiXhosa. He holds a Master’s degree in African Literature from Wits University and a PhD in English Literature from the University of South Africa. He is the author of the novel, When a Man Cries (2007), which he later translated into isiXhosa as Yakhal’ Indoda (2010). He has several short story collections and wrote two critically acclaimed plays. His monograph Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi (2022) won the Creative Non-Fiction Award at the South Africa Literary Awards in 2023.
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
Writer & Poet
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is a Ghanaian-American author and editor of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for children, teens, and adults. Her works for young people include the Young Adult novel Powder Necklace and the children's picture book Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky. For adults, she edited Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices and wrote My Parents’ Marriage: A Novel.
FROM THE 2026 JUDGES
Thoughts on the process, reading & writers.
01
Bola Mosuro
“I'm honoured to be this year’s Chair of Judges for the Caine Prize, joining a long list of luminaries who've presided over Africa's most prestigious literary award. Over the past twenty-five years, the Prize has spotlighted exceptional authors with unique voices and styles, many of whom have gone on to forge wonderful literary careers. The Caine Prize has acted as a springboard – propelling them to a continent-wide and global stage.”
02
Sheila Atim MBE.
“I’m delighted to join the panel of judges for this wonderful award. Through the upliftment of African writing, the Caine Prize encourages more voices from the continent to speak and be heard, opening up the breadth of our stories to readers familiar and beyond”
03
Orsod Malik
“It is a great honor and privilege to have been selected as a judge for the 2026 Caine Prize. This feels like a particularly important moment for fiction and the imagination, as we navigate a world undergoing rapid change and transformation. I’m excited to engage with the submissions and to see how writers are contending with the world around them through the short story form.”
04
Siphiwo Mahala
“It is my immense honour to be invited to serve as one of the judges for the Caine Prize for African Writing. For more than two decades, the Caine Prize has played a crucial role in nurturing short story writing and recognising contemporary literary talent from Africa and the Diaspora. It has always been one of my greatest aspirations to be associated with this prestigious prize. I look forward to working with fellow judges and gaining more exposure to a kaleidoscope of contemporary African voices.”
Nana Ekua
Brew-Hammond
05
“I'm thrilled to join the judging panel for the 2026 Caine Prize for African Writing. As an author myself, I don't take lightly the responsibility to read each writer thoughtfully and thoroughly -- I'm excited to roll up my sleeves and get to it!"
One story, chosen each year from across a continent & diaspora.
