A nightmare vision of life inside a security fence… A group of priests facing their faith amid civil war… A white girl discovering the secrets of the African world around her… Desperate romance against the backdrop of a tyrannous forced marriage… Warrior ethics among boys who live on a rubbish dump…

The shortlisted stories for the 2010 Caine Prize – often referred to as the ‘African Booker Prize’ – offer five memorable snapshots of life on the African continent in all its diversity.