Abstract

Literary awards in Africa are major canonising agents that play the role of promoting the text and the writer in the global literary markets. They further contribute to the accumulation of cultural and symbolic value to the literary networks within which the writers and their texts circulate. This chapter examines the value of scandal within the context of contemporary African literature in the prize industries and its role in establishing and destabilising prestige, exploring what this means in the context of African popular culture today. In this analysis, the chapter foregrounds the short story “All Our Lives” by Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor which was marked by controversy and scandal involving plagiarism accusations in 2019. Before and following the controversy, the story was awarded and circulated by the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, Brittle Paper Literary Awards, and Short Story Day Africa Prize ― major award bodies for short stories by upcoming African writers. Relying on this background, the chapter explores the concept of literary scandal as a theme through an analysis of “All Our Lives,” the controversies around it, and the networks in which it circulated as a prizewinning short story.