Elnathan John, Chika Unigwe, Sefi Atta shortlisted for Nigeria's most prestigious literary prize

Chika Unigwe, winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2012 with her book On Black Sister’s Street and judge for the 2017 Manbooker Prize, has been short listed for the prestigious Nigerian Literature Prize 2016.

Unigwe, was shortlisted for her book Night Dancer published in 2014.  Sefi Atta, was shortlisted for her book A Bit of Difference and Elnathan John for his debut novel, Born On A Tuesday.

The full list can be found below:

Chika Unigwe's Night Dancer (2014).

Ogochukwu Promise's Sorrow’s Joy

Yejide Kilanko's Daughters Who Walk This Path.

Ifeoma Okoye's The Fourth World

Sefi Atta's A Bit of Difference

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim's Season of Crimson Blossoms

Ifeoluwa Adeniyi's On the Bank of the River

Elnathan John's Born On A Tuesday

Aramide Segun's Eniitan Daughter of Destiny

Maryam Awaisu's  Burning Bright

Mansim Chumah Okafor's The Parable of the Lost Shepherds

The list was presented by the chairman, panel of judges for this year’s prize, Prof. Dan Izevbaye, literary critic and a professor of English Language at Bowen University, Iwo.

Other members of the panel of judges include Professor Asabe Usman Kabir, Professor of Oral and African Literatures at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto and Professor Isidore Diala, a professor of African Literature at Imo State University, Owerri and first winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism.

A shortlist of three is expected in September and a winner will be announced by the Advisory Board, led by Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, in October.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly amongst four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. The 2016 prize is for prose fiction and comes with a cash award of $100, 000. Next year’s genre will be poetry.

Sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited, the prize is aimed at bringing Nigerian authors to public attention and celebrating excellence in literary accomplishments in Nigeria.

NLNG believes that the prestigious prize will improve the quality of writing, editing, proof-reading, and publishing in the country with far-reaching positive effect on print and broadcast journalism.

The prizes are administered, on behalf of Nigeria LNG Limited, by the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Advisory Board for Literature made up of members of Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). Winners are announced in October, commemorating the first export of LNG cargo by NLNG on October 9, 1999

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