Out of Africa: Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila wins Austria’s prestigious 2026 Erich Fried Prize

Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila has been named the 2026 recipient of the Erich Fried Prize, recognising a body of work that has established him as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary African literature.

Awarded annually by the International Erich Fried Society and endowed by Austria’s Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport, the prize is regarded as one of Austria’s most prestigious literary awards and carries a €15,000 prize.

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and now based in Austria, Mujila is renowned for fiction and poetry that blend jazz rhythms, oral storytelling and lyrical prose to explore colonialism, migration, political violence and contemporary Congolese life.

His debut novel, Tram 83 (2014; English translation 2015), a frenetic portrait of a fictional mining city shaped by corruption and survival, was longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. He followed it with The Villain’s Dance (2020; English translation 2024; UK edition 2026), which examines exile, family and political upheaval across Central Africa.

Alongside his fiction, Mujila has published the acclaimed poetry collections The River in the Belly (2021, English translation) and The Slaughterhouse of Dreams: Kasala for My Kaku (2025, translated from the 2022 German collection Kasala für meinen Kaku), both of which showcase the musicality and oral traditions that have become hallmarks of his work.

In her jury statement, Seel praised Mujila’s ability to weave together music, language and the complexities of the human experience.
“Reading or listening to Fiston Mwanza Mujila perform leads to the fundamental questions of our existence and our coexistence in all our constructedness from hope, dream, love, hubris, violence and history.”

Mujila will receive the award at Literature House in Vienna on Sunday 15 November 2026, where Seel will deliver the laudatory address.