Zambian writer Serpell to share Caine prize money

Namwali Serpell is splitting her winnings in the Caine Prize for African Writing with the four other runners up.

The US-based Zambian writer received the £10,000 ($15,600) prize for her short story entitled "The Sack" at a dinner held at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University in the UK.

''I wanted to change the structure of the prize,'' Ms Serpell told BBC Newsday that the promise to share the winnings was an act of mutiny. ''It is very awkward to be placed into this position of competition with other writers that you respect immensely and you feel yourself put into a sort of American idol or race-horse situation when actually, you all want to support each other.''