Poet and novelist Fiston Mwanza Mujila has won the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature. He was on Saturday, March 19, 2016 announced winner for his first novel, Tram 83.

Originally written in French, Tram 83 was translated into English by Roland Glasser and published by Deep Vellum. Mujila, 35, is the first Francophone writer to win the prestigious Etisalat Prize, the first ever pan-African prize that celebrates debut fiction books by African authors.

Fiston Mujila was announced winner by the Chair of judges, Ato Quayson, at the award ceremony held at Intercontinental Lagos Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria. He was presented with a £15,000 cheque, an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück and an Iphone 6S. He will also have the opportunity to attend the Etisalat Fellowship, worth £13,000, at the prestigious University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, under the mentorship of Professor Giles Foden.

Born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1981, Mujila studied Literature and Human Sciences at Lubumbashi University. He now lives in Graz, Austria and is pursuing a PhD in Romance Languages. He has won many accolades for his writing, including the Gold Medal at the 6th Jeux de la Francophone in Beirut as well as the Best Text for Theater (State Theater, Mainz) in 2010. His writings are a response to the socio-political turbulence of post-independence Congo.

Tram 83 is the first novel by a DR Congo writer to be translated into English in over two decades. The novel centres around Lucien, an idealistic writer sucked into the dystopian world of his friend, Requiem, a gangster who reigns supreme in the outrageous, extravagant and glamorously debauched nightlife of a secessionist City-State. The Tram 83 of the title is a nightclub that forms the heart of the crumbling city, in which Requiem and a cast of colourful characters feast.

* Photo shows, (L-r)Winner, 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature, Fiston Mwanza Mujila; Patrons of the Etisalat Prize, Kole Omotoso and Margaret Busby; Etisalat Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Willsher and the Etisalat Prize for Literature Chair of Judges, Prof. Ato Quayson with the cheque of 15,000 BP presented to Mujila at the 2015 Awards Ceremony of the Etisalat Prize for Literature in Lagos at the weekend.

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