Nigeria: Where Prizes Take Nigerian Literature

5 September 2015
analysis

Uche Peter Umez is a poet and short story writer who has won awards in poetry, short stories and children novel writing. He is the author of 'Dark through the Delta' and 'Aridity of Feelings' both poetry collections, and 'Tears in her Eyes,' a collection of short stories. He explained that prizes make a work and its author visible. "Once you win a prize, people will want to read your work," he says, adding that it has stimulated aspiring writers who ordinarily would not have taken their work seriously.

Various writing contests, such as Short Story Day Prize, Writivism Short Story Prize, Etisalat Prize For Literature, Africa Book Club Short Story Competition, Fidelity Bank Creative Writing Competition, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and many others, have played important roles in encouraging upcoming writers in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Virtually all of these contests have one central purpose, which is to tell stories about Africa, from an African perspective.

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