By Dani Zacarias

Since its inception in 2000, the Caine Prize has stood for high calibre short fiction on the English African writing scene.

Worldreader is very excited to announce that we have formed a partnership with the Caine Prize and are working with the first ten recipients to publish their work on the Worldreader Book App. This means that their stories will be available, for free, on Internet-enabled mobile phones* the world over. Readers in Africa will have unprecedented access to some of their continents’ most compelling short fiction, and readers on other continents will have a chance to get to know Africa through the words of its people.

Leila Abouela, a Caine Prize winner, is one of the authors you can now read on the Worldreader app.

Currently available on the Worldreader Book Application are four of the Caine Prize winners – The Museum by Leila Abouela, Jungfrau by Mary Watson, Monday Morning by Segun Afolabi and Seventh Street Alchemy by Brian Chikwava. Two of the stories take place outside of Africa (The Museum is set in Scotland and Monday Morning is set in New York), but as the characters struggle with their sometimes wonderous and sometimes depressing thoughts about their newly adopted homes, readers learn about the places they left behind. All four are nearly impossible to put down from the first word and by the end of the first paragraph readers will find themselves completely immersed in the world of a master storyteller. These are not just the best short stories out of Africa, but some of the best short stories, period.

* biNu, which is the platform The Worldreader Book App is available on, is capable of running on Java, Android and Blackberry phones that have a data connection. Keypad and touch screen interfaces are also supported. Currently, biNu is not supported on the iPhone.