News that Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, and Zimbabwean Tsitsi Dangarembga, with her novel This Mournable Body, were on the shortlist for the the 2020 Booker Prize has been received with celebration on the African literary scene.
Two African women are in the running for the £50,000 ($66,000) award, in a historic first for the UK's most prestigious literary prize - and a major boost for storytellers on the continent.