New Writing from Africa 2009 presents the 34 finalists of the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award. 827 stories from all over Africa were entered for the short-story competition. They were first read by a team of preliminary readers which longlisted 195 titles. These went on to an editorial board consisting of Anthony Fleischer, Harry Garuba, Alistair King and Mary Watson, who in turn selected the finalists. Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee chose the winning entries and honourable mentions.