South African writer Henrietta Rose-Innes was awarded the £2,500 Runner Up prize for her short story 'Sanctuary' at the BBC International Short Story Awards on 2 October. The prize was won by Bulgarian writer Miroslav Penkov.

According to the BBC, 'Henrietta Rose-Innes' story 'Sanctuary' is a subtle but powerful account of a nostalgic trip back to a childhood haunt in the South African bush. The narrator's encounter with another family explores the experience of domestic violence and its consequences.'

Henrietta is the author of the short story collection HOMING. She is the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing 2008 (for which she was shortlisted in 2007) and the HSBC / PEN Short Story Prize 2007. Her work is included in the Granta Book of the African Short Story (2011) and McSweeney's Best American Non-Required Reading 2011, edited by Dave Eggers.

Henrietta's most recent novel NINEVEH has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the M-Net Prize 2012. She is currently working on a new title THE GREEN LION.

We are delighted with her success and the recognition of this prestigious prize.

Click here to read more from the BBC.
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See here for more on Henrietta:
http://www.henriettarose-innes.com/about.php

Praise for Henrietta Rose-Innes:

'Henrietta Rose-Innes is a master of the beautifully thought-out metaphor. Her prose is elegant and liquid.' -- Cape Times

'Rose-Innes is a writer almost in the Virginia Woolf mould - lateral of mind and poetic in her style of narration.' -- Leon de Kock, Sunday Times

'One of South Africa's most renowned and most exciting emerging voices.' -- Carol Brammage, The Witness

'Rose-Innes writes like a virtuoso; each word is as carefully placed as in a poem.' --Margot Pakendorf, Rapport