Remy Ngamije's Short story, The Neighbourhood Watch, a narrative of five disenfranchised people on their quest for survival on the margins of society has been shortlisted for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize. We use the music of Hugh Masekela, Salif Keita, Yemi Alade, Lady Smith Black Mambazo - as selected by Rémy to unpack the intricacies of the story. We address poor representations of female characters in fiction written by men, while Rémy opens up about the triumphs and challenges of spearheading DoekLitMag.com, a literary journal expanding the reach of Namibian literature.

We continue our special one-to-one interview with the shortlisted writers for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing with Remy Ngamije, a Rwandan born, Namibian writer, editor and photographer whose story, The Neighbourhood Watch is vying for the £10,000 prize.

Listen to Remy's playlist on Deezer, Spotify and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @BooksAndRhymes

Share your thoughts on this episode using #BooksAndRhymes

The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom the song is available on Bandcamp

Books referenced in this episode:

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

African Book of Short Story Writing – edited by Helon Habila

Little Family – by Ishmael Beah

Literary Journals Referenced:

Doek Lit Mag, Lolwe, Bakwa Magazine, Brittle Paper, Johannesburg Review of Books,

Songs referenced this episode:

Tomorrow – Salif Keita

Sound Check - The Muffinz

Stimela – Hugh Masekela

Mbube - Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Africa – Salif Keita

Africa – Yemy Alade ft. Sauti Sol

Make The Road by Walking - The Menahan Street Band

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.