The winner of the Guardian First Book Award was announced yesterday. Zimbabwean Petina Gappah, honoured for 'An Elegy for Easterly', is only the second short story writer to win in the award's history, the first being Yiyun Li in 2006. Juding chair Claire Armitstead said of the author, 'Petina Gappah's humane and disarmingly funny mosaic of life in Zimbabwe is undoubtedly one of the very best', adding that she would be very interested to see Gappah's next endevour in the literary field. In answer to this, Gappah is already writing her first full length novel, 'The Book of Memory'. She called it 'incredible' to be awarded the £10,000 prize. A video detailing all the shortlisted candidates and with interviews from the authors can be found here
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