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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →NoViolet Bulawayo’s short story “Hitting Budapest” was unanimously selected as the honorary Best of Caine for the prize’s 25th anniversary in 2025. The panel’s case rests on a striking combination: a child’s vivid, tightly controlled voice and a simple adventure that reveals a sharp divide between the children’s world and the one they enter.
What did NoViolet Bulawayo win?
The Best of Caine was a special 25th-anniversary selection from among stories that had previously won the Caine Prize for African Writing. It was an honorary anniversary award, not the announcement of a regular annual prize for 2025. “Hitting Budapest” had already won the Caine Prize in 2011. The prize describes its remit as a short story written by an African and published in English. Caine Prize: official history and prize information
The 2025 panel selected Bulawayo’s story unanimously. Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah chaired the judges, alongside novelist and short-story writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and film producer Tony Tagoe. Caine Prize chair Ellah Wakatama announced the result at the Words Across Waters Afro Lit Festival on 27 September 2025. Caine Prize announcement LitNet’s announcement
What is “Hitting Budapest” about?
Six children leave Paradise, their shantytown, and enter Budapest, an affluent neighborhood, to steal guavas. The plot is immediate and concrete: children want fruit, and they cross into a place marked by walls, fences and greater material comfort to get it. That contrast lets the story make inequality visible through what the children see and want rather than through an abstract explanation of poverty.
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The child’s perspective matters to that effect. The story’s concerns include poverty, social and economic inequality, and children’s dreams, but the guava raid gives those concerns a human scale. The children are not simply symbols of deprivation; their appetite, curiosity and sense of adventure drive the action. The divide between Paradise and Budapest emerges through the route they take and the world they encounter. Cornell University’s account of Bulawayo and the story The Guardian’s report
Why did the judges choose it?
Gurnah’s explanation points to the story’s craft rather than treating the award as an objective ranking. He said the decision was unanimous and swift, praising its “control of voice” and “superb evocation of a childhood vision.” The Guardian also reports the panel’s praise for its language, distinctive tone and storytelling. LitNet’s account of the judges’ decision The Guardian’s report
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Those qualities reinforce one another. A controlled child’s voice can make the story’s world feel immediate without losing its shape; the children’s goal keeps the narrative moving, while their observations allow a larger social divide to come into view. The result is not a lecture about inequality but a story in which the disparity is built into the children’s adventure. That is a persuasive reason for the panel’s choice, even though no prize can settle a universal ranking of the previous winners.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the story become part of We Need New Names?
“Hitting Budapest” appeared in Boston Review in 2010 and later became the opening chapter of Bulawayo’s debut novel, We Need New Names, published in 2013. Bulawayo began the novel while studying in Cornell’s MFA program. The novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won multiple awards. The short story therefore served not only as an award-winning work in its own right but also as an entry point into a larger work that brought Bulawayo’s writing to more readers. Cornell University’s account
Bulawayo said the original Caine Prize, awarded when she was an unpublished writer, brought her work to a global audience and strengthened her confidence and commitment to writing. She has also described drafting the story after a workshop, on an ordinary day as a student. That history offers a useful counterpoint to the story’s later distinction: its acclaim began with a piece of work written in the course of learning and practice. Cornell University’s account LitNet’s report
For readers who want to continue with Bulawayo, We Need New Names begins with the story; her second novel, Glory, was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. The Guardian’s report
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