# Stickfighting Days

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stickfighting_Days
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stickfighting_Days.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickfighting_Days
> Source revision: 1317804669
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

"**Stickfighting Days**" is the second [short story](/source/Short_story) by [Olufemi Terry](/source/Olufemi_Terry) from [Sierra Leonean](/source/Sierra_Leone). It is the winner of the 2010 [Caine Prize for African Writing](/source/Caine_Prize).[1] It was originally published in the pan-African magazine *[Chimurenga](/source/Chimurenga_(magazine))* (vol. 12/13).[2]

The story follows a group of [glue-sniffing](/source/Inhalant_abuse) boys in a [dump](/source/Landfill) who fight with sticks.[3] Terry said the story originally came into his head as "the idea of street boys in [Nairobi](/source/Nairobi), in rags, sniffing glue", adding: "The stickfighting element just popped into my head—there 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".[2]

"Stickfighting Days" won the Caine Prize for African Writing on 5 July 2010. It defeated [shortlisted](/source/Short_list) entries by writers from across Africa, including Ken Barris ([South Africa](/source/South_Africa)), [Lily Mabura](/source/Lily_Mabura) ([Kenya](/source/Kenya)), [Namwali Serpell](/source/Namwali_Serpell) ([Zambia](/source/Zambia)), and Alex Smith (South Africa).[4] [Fiammetta Rocco](/source/Fiammetta_Rocco), the judges' chair and literary editor with *[The Economist](/source/The_Economist)*, said: "Ambitious, brave and hugely imaginative, Olufemi Terry's 'Stickfighting Days' presents a heroic culture that is [Homeric](/source/Homeric) in its scale and conception. The execution of this story is so tight and the presentation so [cinematic](/source/Film), it confirms Olufemi Terry as a talent with an enormous future".[2]

## References

1. Flood, Alison (6 July 2010). ["Olufemi Terry wins Caine prize for African writing"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/06/olufemi-terry-wins-caine-prize). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. [Guardian Media Group](/source/Guardian_Media_Group). Retrieved 6 July 2010.

1. ["African literary prize goes to Cape Town writer"](https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/african-literary-prize-goes-to-cape-town-writer-1.883682). *[CBC News](/source/CBC_News)*. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

1. ["Sierra Leone's Olufemi Terry wins Caine writing prize"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10519045). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. [BBC](/source/BBC). 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

1. Frenette, Brad (6 July 2010). ["Olufemi Terry wins 2010 Caine Prize"](https://nationalpost.com/afterword/olufemi-terry-wins-caine-prize). *[National Post](/source/National_Post)*. [Canwest](/source/Canwest). [Archived](https://archive.today/20120710030428/http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/07/06/olufemi-terry-wins-caine-prize/) 10 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

## External links

- ["Stickfighting Days"](http://newint.org/books/2010_terry_stickfighting_days.pdf)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stickfighting Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickfighting_Days) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickfighting_Days?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.