The Caine Prize for African Writing on Thursday announced the five shortlisted short stories for the 2026 edition of the prize, with Nigerian writer Akinwande Jordan’s ‘So Long Now It’s Starting To Look Like Eternity’, published in the anthology, A House That’s Not A Home, among the shortlist.

The Caine Prize feat makes Jordan the only Nigerian on the shortlist, as the other four shortlisted writers were from Kenya, Cameroon, Egypt, and Zimbabwe.

According to the organisers of the ₤10,000-worth short story prize, the five shortlisted stories were carefully selected from a pool of 407 entries originating from 27 African countries, representing a significant increase from the 2024 edition.

Jordan’s story in the anthology was published in February 2026 by Naira Books, an imprint of Nigerian-based publishing firm, Naira Publishers.

‘So Long Now It’s Starting To Look Like Eternity’ follows the failing marriage of two University of Lagos mathematics and literature professors, and the communication and emotional undertones that complicate their lives.

Jordan, reacting to the shortlist on Thursday, said it feels palpably surreal, and that he is honoured beyond what words could qualify.

“I feel validated, humbled and extremely elated. I do not regard this as the apogee of my literary career, but it affirms that my attempts to learn from writers I admire have not been futile,” he said.

Editors of the anthology, Haliru Ali Musa and Kingsley Alumona, spoke about Jordan’s story and what the Caine Prize shortlist meant to Nigerian budding writers and the literary community.

In their comments, referenced on the Caine Prize official website, regarding ‘So Long Now It’s Starting To Look Like Eternity’, Musa and Alumona stated that, right from the first paragraph of Jordan’s story, what struck them was the uniqueness of the language that reads like poetry and its pace that is consistent, leading to an unfamiliar territory.

“The theme of the story, poetically captured well in its title, is a complex one that many married couples face in contemporary society. We like the way the author managed the plot and ended the story, leaving us wondering what could have come next,” the editors added.

Award-winning writer and critic, Haliru Musa, noted that Jordan’s story turns marriage into an equation that refuses to be solved, into love resisting logic the way irrational numbers resist division. He added that Jordan’s mathematics fails precisely where it matters.

“The prose stays cool, precise, clinical, and that restraint makes the heartbreak land,” he said.
According to Musa, editing the story felt like proofreading a controlled explosion, saying that Jordan’s sentences are declarative, almost flat, yet each one accumulates dread. He further said that his job was mostly restraint, protecting that coolness from anything that might tip into sentiment, adding that the ending of the story still surprises him.

On what Jordan’s Caine Prize shortlist means to Nigerian local publishers, literary community, and upcoming writers, Musa stressed that it confirms something most writers already suspected, that Nigerian short fiction can hold its own without performing its Nigerianness for outsiders.
“For small presses and upcoming writers, it is proof that rigorous, quiet, formally ambitious work still finds readers and recognition,” he said.

Journalist and founder of Naira Publishers, Kingsley Alumona, noted that the anthology was the first book published by the company, and they are happy that one of the ten short stories in the collection made the Caine Prize shortlist.

“This is a great feat for a new publishing company with just a book out there. It means that our investments in local and budding writers and in the creative community are yielding fruits,” he said.
The other 2026 shortlisted writers of the Caine Prize are Gladwell Pamba (Kenya) for ‘The Last Shop’, published by Jahazi Press (August 2024); Melara Mvogdobo (Cameroon) for ‘Dieu Merci!’ published in Literatur.Review (August, 2025); Yasmine Zohdi (Egypt) for ‘The Absence of Stains’ published in The Republic (August 2025); and Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza (Zimbabwe) for ‘The Blue Fighter’ published in The Shallow Tales Review (June 2024).

Chair of Judges for the 2026 Caine Prize and journalist, Bola Mosuro, said that the five shortlisted stories stood out with their originality and that each author packed a powerful punch in their storytelling with tales that were poignant, shocking, moving, and even quirky.
Chair of the Caine Prize Board of Trustees, Ellah Wakatama OBE, stated that they are grateful for the commitment of the publishers, which has produced and platformed the five diverse and dazzling short stories from across Africa.

“A lot goes into bringing a short story to life: first, the creative fortitude of the writer, then the dedication of editors and publishers in ensuring the story has a fighting chance at communicating to the reader what the writer envisioned,” Wakatama said.

The organisers of the prize stated that winner of this year’s edition of the prize will be announced at a ceremony in London, United Kingdom, in October and will subsequently be celebrated and presented with the prize in their country of origin.

“All the shortlisted stories will be published in the annual anthology alongside stories written at the Caine Prize Workshop, held this year in Tanzania,” the organisers added.

Musa and Alumona wished Akinwande Jordan and the other shortlisted writers the best, adding that they cannot wait to read the other four stories and to celebrate the winner of the prize.