The decision on the winning entry of The Nigeria Prize for Literature was reached by a panel of judges, led by Prof. Ernest Emenyonu, professor of Africana Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint, USA. Other judges are Dr Razinat Mohammed, associate professor of Literature at the University of Maiduguri and Tade Ipadeola, poet, lawyer and winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2013.
Read the shortlist here.
The panel had, through the Advisory Board, released a shortlist of eleven in July 2017 and later, a shortlist of three in September 2016. The three shortlisted entries, in alphabetic order, were A Good Mourning (Ogaga Ifowodo), Songs of myself: Quartet (Tanure Ojaide) and The Heresiad (Ikeogu Oke).
The Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) yesterday announced Ikeogu Oke as the winner of the 2017 edition of the prize.
The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Advisory Board, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo at a press conference in Lagos yesterday.
Banjo said regarding the attention the prize has received:
“Poetry competition for the prize is always very fierce and very interesting. We couldn’t have been more reassured about the process because the panel of judges did a painstakingly thorough job in selecting the best from the final shortlist of three entries”.
Professor Ernest N. Emenyonu also said:
“The seriousness with which the NLNG literary prize is received by the teeming population of writers in Nigeria is a sign that the expectations of writers swing beyond the prize itself to that of portraying their creativity. The prestige, associated with the prize saw the 184 entries of collections of poetry in various sizes and of diverse themes and set the stage for the stiff competition. At the beginning, the initial weeding was carried out following one of the primary criteria; quality and validity of publication year. Oke’s poetry collection reveals a conscious /deliberate manipulation of language and philosophy in the style that reminds us of the writings of great Greek writers of Homeric and Hellenistic periods.”
On hearing the announcement, the General Manager, External Relations at NLNG, Kudo Eresia-Eke, said:
“We at NLNG are proud of this additional achievement. National and international interest in both the prize and process are increasing and this is good for the prize and for Nigeria. We are pleased with the judges’ verdict and Mr Ikeogu Okehas demonstrated that he is a fine poet and Nigerians need to rally around and celebrate him. We must begin to build cultural icons, the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka and Professor Chinua Achebe, and this prize is the leading project doing this right now.”
He also remarked that the prize will increase the quality of books and appetite of reading among scholars.
The number of entries for the 2017 edition exceeded the 2013 numbers in the same category, showing a six percent increase in the number of entries received and increasing interest in one of the biggest literary prizes in the world.
The prize comes with a cash reward of $100,000.
Source: Thisdaylive.com
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