Ngozi Achebe, Lola Shoneyin, Chika Unigwe, Olusola Olugbesan and six others nominated for Literary Award

    
(L-R) Ngozi Achebe, U Joy Ogwu& Flora Nwapa

The ten finalists and their books in alphabetical order are as follows:

Ngozi Achebe: Onaedo – The Blacksmith’s Daughter

Ifeanyi Ajaegbo: Sarah House

Jude Dibia: Blackbird

Vincent Egbuson: Zhero 

Adaobi Tricia Nwuban: I Do Not Come to You by Chance

Onuora Nzekwu: Troubled Dust

Olusola Olugbesan: Only a Canvas

Lola Shoneyin: The Secret lives of Baba Segi’s Wives

EE Sule: Sterile Sky

Chike Unigwe: On Black Sister’s Street

According to a statement released by Ifeanyi Mbanefo, Managing Editor of NLNG In-house Magazine and Manager of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, NLNG Limited, a final shortlist will be announced soon.

NLNG Advisory Board for Literature also announced its decision beginning in 2013 to accept e-Book entries for the literature prize. In addition, the Advisory Board also announced it will implement “every year, three scholars with critical works published in reputable foreign journals will be given honorary mention, commendation letters and a cash prize of US$5,000.” NLNG officials also say they hope these incentives will encourage scholars all over the world to bring Nigerian literature to international attention.

Past winners of the prestigious prize include the founding father of modern Nigerian poetry, Gabriel Okara, Ezenwa Ohaeto, Ahmed Yerima, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Mabel Segun, Kaine Agary, and Esiaba Orobi. The award rotates yearly amongst four genres: poetry, drama, prose fiction and children’s literature.

The prizes are awarded at the NLNG Grand Award Night which is observed in the second week of October, commemorating the first export of Liquefied Natural Gas cargo by the company on October 9, 1999.

Ngozi Achebe’s debut novel Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter is available on line, at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, W H Smith and anywhere books are sold. She can be contacted on Facebook or at www.ngoziachebe.com.