Etisalat Nigeria on Thursday announced the call for entries to the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature which is in its third year. The prize is the first ever Pan African prize celebrating debut African writers of published fiction.
“The Etisalat Prize for Literature serves as a platform for the discovery of new creative writing talents out of the African continent,” said Matthew Willsher, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria.
The CEO explained that following the success of the second year which was concluded early this year, the literary community is eagerly awaiting the third year. NoViolet Bulawayo won the maiden edition with her highly celebrated debut novel, ‘We Need New Names’, while Songeziwe Mahlangu emerged winner of the second with his novel, ‘Penumbra’.
The Etisalat prize is designed to foster writing in Africa, bring exciting new African writers to the attention of a wider audience and promote the reading culture. The winner receives a cash prize of £15,000 in addition to a fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia under the mentorship of the award-winning author, Professor Giles Foden. The winner will also receive a sponsored three-city book tour while the two other shortlisted writers will receive a sponsored two-city book tour to promote their books. The prize also supports publishers by purchasing 1000 copies of the shortlisted books for distribution within the continent.
This prize accepts submitted works which must be a writer’s first work of fiction over 30,000 words, and published within the last 24 months.
The Etisalat Prize will also launch the online based flash fiction prize later in the year to engage the rising stars of fiction.
Rules and guidelines for entry are available at prize’s website.
Etisalat Nigeria is one of the 19 operations of the Etisalat Group spanning Africa, the Middle East and Asia and serving over 182 million subscribers.
