"Stickfighting Days" is Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

an writer Olufemi Terry

Olufemi Terry

Olufemi Terry is a Sierra Leone-born writer. He won the 2010 Caine Prize for African Writing for his second short story "Stickfighting Days," which was originally published in Vol. 12/13. The judges said he was "a talent with an enormous future"...

's second short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 and the winner of the 2010 Caine Prize for African Writing

Caine Prize

The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, and was named in memory of the late Sir Michael...

. It was originally published in the pan-African magazine Chimurenga (vol. 12/13).

The story follows a group of glue-sniffing boys in a dump

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

 who fight with sticks. Terry said the story originally came into his head as "the idea of street boys in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, in rags, sniffing glue", adding, "The stickfighting element just popped into my headthere wasn't any obvious connection between the two strands, but somehow I found myself working with these two elements and the story just poured out of me".

"Stickfighting Days" won the Caine Prize for African Writing on July 5, 2010. It defeated shortlisted

Short list

A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates . The length of short lists varies according to the context.-U.S...

 entries by writers from across Africa, including Ken Barris (South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

), Lily Mabura (Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

), Namwali Serpell (Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

), and Alex Smith (South Africa). Judges chair and literary editor with The Economist

The Economist

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

, Fiammetta Rocco, said, "Ambitious, brave and hugely imaginative, Olufemi Terry's Stickfighting Days presents a heroic culture that is Homeric in its scale and conception. The execution of this story is so tight and the presentation so cinematic

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, it confirms Olufemi Terry as a talent with an enormous future".