The short play Bella Napoli by Steve Gold (USA) is the winner of the second annual Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature.
The 2025 prize accepted scripts for ten-to-fifteen-minute stage plays. In total, 266 entries were received from 23 countries.
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The winner was announced by Ugandan poet Carolyne ‘Afroetry’ Acen, on 30 May 2026, at the Asian Literary Festival in Kenya. Ms Acen will be the Chief Judge of the 2026 Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature, which will focus on poetry.
New York-based playwright Steve Gold is the author of several full-length stage plays, including Outlive the Bastards, Cadillac High, and Women and Guns. The latter won the Fratti-Newman Political Play contest in 2011. Gold’s winning entry is an amusing yet thought-provoking ten-minute play set in 1930’s Italy.
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In it, an uptight African-American scientist arrives in Naples to take up a position at a research facility and is welcomed by a disarming Austrian woman. One juror described the entry as ‘Charming! I like the way it tackles two serious issues (racism, gender discrimination) in an entertaining and creative way.’
READ ALSO: 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize announces regional winners
Alexander Nderitu, the Chief Judge, commented: ‘It’s like the opening chapter of a great saga. You don’t know what will happen next, but you can expect humour, drama, and probably romance. Also, I like how the city itself is like a character in the story.’
Bella Napoli will be published in The African Griot Review, the literary magazine that serves as the mouthpiece of the Nderitu Prize, alongside its parent website, TheAfricanGriot.com
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The Asian Literary Festival is a global literary and cultural movement founded by Sri Lankan novelist Pramudith D. Rupasinghe. Previous editions have been held in Brussels, Bhubaneswar, and Gampaha.
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