Nigerian writers at home and across the seas have submitted 109 entries for the 2015 Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.
The focus this year is on children’s literature. The take home is $100,000.
“We have received 109 books as submissions by Nigerian authors to compete for this year’s prize in children’s literature.
“I can only wish all the authors vying for the honour, every success and the best outcome possible in the exercise,” said Kudo Eresia-Eke, NLNG General Manager, (External Relations).
The literary prize is Africa’s most prestigious because of its insistence on excellence and the $100,000 cash. It rotates yearly among the four categories of prose fiction, poetry, drama, and children’s literature.
The last winner in children’s literature was Adeleke Adeyemi in 2011, for The Missing Clock.
Mabel Segun and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo were joint winners in 2007 for Reader’s Theatre and My Cousin Sammy.
This year’s award for children’s literature will run concurrently with the prize for literary criticism, also sponsored by NLNG, and for which one entry was received.
Introduced in 2012, the literary criticism category is a yearly award and carries a monetary value of N1 million.
On the panel of judges for this year’s edition are Professor Uwemedimo Iwoketok of the University of Jos, the chairperson; Professor Charles Bodunde of the University of Ilorin; and Dr. Razinat Mohammed of the University of Maiduguri.
Members of the advisory board are Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo, Professor Ben Elugbe, and Professor Jerry Agada.
This year’s international consultant to the advisory board is Kimberly Reynolds, Professor of children’s literature at the Newcastle University, England and former President of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature.
Nigeria LNG announced a N2 billion University Support Programme (USP) in March 2014 under its corporate social responsibility (CSR).
It is currently sponsoring the building and equipping of engineering laboratories in six universities in the six zones in Nigeria as part of its support for teaching, research, and capacity boost.
