Entries for the 2023 edition of the annual Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize For Book Review are now being accepted.
The winners will be announced at the 25th edition of the Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF) with the theme ‘THE RESET: History and the Darkling Plain’, according to the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA. It will take place from November 13 to November 19, 2023.
The Prize is intended to encourage reading and engagement with the published text, which is in line with the core objective of the CORA and its primary project, the LABAF. It is dedicated to the celebration of the life and career of the famous writer and environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed by the Nigerian State on November 10, 1995.
According to the festival’s Programme Directorate, the Prize will include: a review of the drama text GRIT by Obari Gomba, which won the Nigeria LNG-sponsored 2023 Nigeria Prize for Literature worth $100,000; entries should be a maximum of 1500 words, minimum of 800 words; entries must be submitted by 12 noon November 10, 2023 to [email protected]; competition is open to only those between the ages of 18 and 25.
In addition, shortlisted entries will be published on Monday, November 13; the overall winner will be declared on Wednesday, November 15; and the Prize will be awarded on Friday, November 17 in Freedom Park in Lagos.
While Obari Gomba, winner of the NPL 2023, will be the special guest of honor, Mr. Andy Odey, General Manager, External Relations & Sustainable Development, NLNG, will be the guest of honor.
The award idea was created in 2015, on the occasion of the 17th LABAF, which commemorated the 20th anniversary of the state assassination of Saro-Wiwa, himself a keen watcher, commentator, and critic of the level of literature produced in the country at the time.
The project is intended to advance a key goal of the CORA and LABAF: deepening the culture of reading and engagement with the content of literary works, particularly fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction; all genres in which the late author, Ken Saro-Wiwa, excelled during his illustrious writing career.
