The Island Prize could not be prouder to be announcing the 2022/23 winner.

A Mouth Full Of Salt
by Reem Gaafar (Sudan)

A small village in the North of Sudan wakes up one morning in the late 70s to the news of a
drowned boy. While searching for him a strange woman appears, and with her appearance a
series of strange and tragic events occur: animals die of a mysterious illness, the date tree
fields catch fire and burn to the ground, and a young girl decides she is leaving the village to
go to medical school in the capital Khartoum – something unheard of in that area and that
time. While these events all have perfectly logical explanations, the villagers believe they are
a work of evil and their thoughts and anger turn to this woman who they believe is a witch.
The three women in this story are trapped in a social system with a very well-defined gender
and racial hierarchy, but which is facing disruption by changing times. In their obstinate
belief in their societal norms, the villagers blame this change on an obscure evil that can only
be produced by an outsider, rather than confront their own bigotry.

A Mouth Full of Salt is stylistically simple, insightful, and elegant; sharing truths like all best
fiction, it is compelling, has a profound sense of place, and shows brilliance in the ways the
destinies weave together.
The Island Prize Judges

Runners-Up

Bobo Hamham by
Jesudubami Jemima Aganaba (Nigeria)

A story told by three children. The witness to domestic violence, rural
life, poverty and religious fanatism; the rich, urban, classy kid in the cold, lifeless family;
lastly, the indoctrinated, bipolar child-terrorist in a forest.