Many people I know have been cremated. Prof Wangari Maathai. Charles Mugane Njonjo. Jeremiah Kiereini. Allan Thigo. Tough people. Important people. Revered celebrities and public figures. The news no longer rattles me. I am old enough to know the dead give no damn. 

It had taken her all ten minutes to realise that her soul had already left medical school. She literally sneaked out, on tiptoes. Then she bumped into him, literally. In her defence, she was lost in thought, eyes on the ground in front of her. “Excuse me…,” she muttered softly without looking up, continuing with her walk. “Are you okay?” he asked, and she put up her hand to indicate she was okay, without turning.“Muna?” She stopped, then turned, then hated herself for a moment because she recognised him even though she had only seen him once, months ago. Wesonga smiled and walked towards her with a stretched arm. “Sorry, do we know each other?” It was a strangely satisfying feeling when she spotted a hint of disappointment, but he recovered fast. 

“The Blue Fighter” follows Tinashe, a young boy whose family is plunged into financial difficulty after his father leaves his profession to pursue his passion for building fish tanks. As the family’s financial situation deteriorates, Tinashe’s mother is forced to confront a difficult choice between supporting her husband’s ambitions and ensuring the family’s survival.

The longlist, announced on 6 October, brings together fiction, memoir, poetry, history, children’s literature and non-fiction from publishers across Africa and the Caribbean. The prize's emphasis on publishing is significant at a time when conversations about African literature increasingly extend beyond writing itself to questions of rights, ownership, distribution, translation and access to global markets.

“Wes, I want a divorce.” Muna’s words poured out through her morning breath in a whisper. Wesonga did not hear her but she immensely enjoyed the relief of letting them out after they had been stuck in her throat for years, perpetually threatening to purge the same way she purged after eating boiled eggs, but unlike the eggs, she always managed to push down the words.