The shortcomings of the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The shortcomings of the Nigeria Prize for Literature

The Nigeria Prize for Literature, endowed by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited is a great thing. It is an unprecedented initiative of immense benefit to Nigerian writers and the society for the appreciation of our literary culture.
I have been following the progress of the Nigeria Prize for Literature without any objection to the administration, but not impressed by the impact on the sustainable development of Nigerian literature. There is too much emphasis on the cash prize of $50,000 when the focus should be on promoting the revival of our reading culture for the intellectual development of the Nigerian society that is presently breeding philistines.

The Nigerian Prize for Literature has made the lucky winners richer, but it has failed to make us wiser, because many of the prizes winning books have not reached the majority of the Nigerian society, except the intelligentsia.
The Man Booker Prize, Orange Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Commonwealth Prize and other highly coveted literary awards increase the public appreciation of the winners and their books, but the Nigeria Prize for Literature has failed to make the winners bestsellers and becoming a bestselling author is the dream of every writer.
It looks like there is no budget for a comprehensive media plan for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, because there is no tangible publicity plan for the public appreciation of the winning books beyond the public announcements of the shortlisted authors, the winners and prize giving gala ceremonies. Everybody returns to business as usual after the events and the lucky winner of the $50, 000 prize smiles to the bank. But none of the prize winning books has become a bestseller and the author hardly goes on any book signing tour like in America, the UK or other countries where prize winning books become sought after collector’s items and sell like hot cakes.
What is the use of winning a book prize, but your book is not in demand?
The fact that is; the reading culture in Nigeria is still poor after the efforts of some individuals and groups to promote reading and President Goodluck Jonathan launched a widely publicized “Bring Back the Book” campaign.
The revival of our reading culture is a challenge to the administrators of the Nigeria Prize for Literature.
How can we use the prize to revive the general appreciation of reading in Nigeria?

May I advise the administrators of the Nigeria Prize for Literature to review the budget and the media plan and consider spending more on the promotion of the prize winning books to attract the attention and appreciation of the public.
The promotion of the winning book will attract more readers and boost our reading culture.
Invite the public to vote for the shortlisted books, because such an open invitation will be a good motivation for the public appreciation of the books and will definitely boost their interest to read them.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature needs more cooperation and support of the Nigerian news media to achieve more for the overall benefit of the Nigerian society. The Guardian and other Nigerian newspapers should learn from The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the Guardian of the UK and others in America and Europe by dedicating more pages to literary appreciation such as initiating and promoting a Nigerian Bestsellers List for both fiction and non-fiction like New York Times: Best-Seller Lists, Book of the Month and other promotions that will go a long way to increase the public appreciation of the goals and objectives of the Nigeria Prize for Literature beyond the competition for the cash prize and the glitz of the ceremony.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Helon Habila Leads Fidelity Bank International Creative Writing Workshop

Helon Habila


One of Nigeria's most illustrious young writers Helon Habila, the first Nigerian winner of the highly coveted Caine Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize will lead the award winning Canadian novelist Madeleine Thien and the popular Jamaican writer Colin Channer to the next Fidelity Bank International Creative Writing Workshop coming up in Abuja this July.

Fidelity Bank Plc gave the following detailed information on the international creative writing workshop.

This year’s edition of our International Creative Writing Workshop is the 3rd in
a series of efforts to redirect the energy of Nigerian youths to those values
that once made Nigeria great. The workshop is also an important component of
Fidelity’s Corporate Social Responsibility CSR through which the bank continues
to push for a better society.

Participants will be expected to read and
discuss a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, as well as complete short
writing exercises.

Participation in the forthcoming workshop is limited
to those who apply and are accepted. A public symposium featuring readings and
panel discussions will be held on the last day of the workshop.

To
apply, send an e-mail to - creative.writing@fidelitybankplc.com



Your e-mail subject should bear the title – Workshop
Application.

The body of the e-mail should contain the following –
1. Your name.
2. Your address.
3. A few sentences about yourself.
4. A writing sample of between 200 and 800 words.

Please indicate
whether your sample is fiction or non-fiction. Acceptance will be based on the
quality of the writing sample.

All writing material must be pasted or
written in the body of the e-mail.
Do NOT send any attachments.
Applications with attachments will be automatically disqualified.

Deadline for submission is June 20, 2010. If accepted, you will be
notified by July 4, 2010

Rana Dasgupta Wins 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize For Best Book

British-Indian novelist Rana Dasgupta has won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book for his novel Solo and Glenda Guest won Best First Book for Siddon Rock.

Rana Dasgupta


The judges said they chose Solo for "its innovation, ambition, courage and effortlessly elegant prose. A remarkable novel of two halves, this is a book that takes risks and examines the places where grim reality and fantastical daydreams merge, diverge, and feed off each other. Solo, the judges concluded, is a tour de force, breathtaking in its boldness and narrative panache."
More details.

Rana Dasgupta said he was surprised that he won the highly coveted £10,000 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

"I am not the kind to win awards. I am a writer who writes more for myself — it’s an intensely personal thing. To see that striking a chord is not something I had counted on,” said Dasgupta.

Solo is Rana Dasgupta's second novel and it has been given favourable reviews by leading literary pundits. His first novel was Tokyo Cancelled.

Solo is ... utterly unforgettable in its humanity.
- Kapka Kassabova, The Guardian.

What a delight to find a novelist unfazed by the 21st century ... This is an important work. Already it's my tip for the Man Booker this year.
- Nigel Krauth, The Australian.

Solo is a nuanced and virtuoso performance.
- Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday.

Solo is beautifully symphonic - elegiac and prophetic, underpinned by intelligence, compassion and a wonderfully unfettered imagination. It’s a necessary as well as a timely novel.
- Joanne Hayden, Sunday Business Post.

... a surreal history of massive proportions ... Dasgupta's writing is a revelation ... The back cover lauds the book as "a devastating and rapturous novel". It is. I'm still shaking.
- Matt Bowler, The Nelson Mail.


Winner of the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, "Solo" recounts the life and daydreams of Ulrich, a one hundred year-old blind man from Bulgaria:

In the hour before they retired, the silence claimed his mother too, and Ulrich relaxed into contentment. While the ball of wool twitched with her knitting, his attention drifted from his books and spiralled into his own recesses, where old faces coasted past like comforting submarine monsters, and fine filaments lit up a route to the future. He came to find solace in these daydreams, and on the days when he did not have an opportunity to cultivate them, he went to bed quite unsatisfied.


Solo is an exquisite book, one of the best I’ve read all year; but trying to encompass why is quite difficult, because it could go in so many directions ... The contrast between the novel’s two parts is ... well-handled and subtle. It’s not simply that one depicts failure and the other success. It’s that, in life, one of Ulrich’s obsessions caused so much tragedy — chemistry destroyed his marriage, poisoned his country, took his sight; but, in his daydreams, it is Ulrich’s other obsession, music, that brings so much joy. And it’s that Ulrich’s memories, being somewhat hazy and episodic, feel much like daydreams; whilst his daydreams have a structure that make them feel more like reality (come to think of it, isn’t that often the way in our own lives?).
- David Hebblethwaite.

Prizes are important, because just as writers need to be read, they also need to be fed.
~ Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairst the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Awards Ceremony in India on April 12, 2010.

Adaobi Nwaubani Wins Coveted Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book

Adaobi Nwaubani Wins Coveted Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima


Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani


Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani's novel I Do Not Come to You by Chance has won her the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in the Africa Region.

The crime fiction tells the story of the notorious Nigerian 419 Internet scammers from a very sensitive narrative writer and has been described as a must read by The Washington Post.



"Nwaubani's subversive skill lies in telling us a familiar story from an unfamiliar angle. By making Robin Hood heroes of the vilified perpetrators of e-mail scams, she allows us to enjoy watching a potbellied pervert from Utah pay an African village kid's school fees," wrote Chris Cleave in The Washington Post on Saturday, May 23, 2009. I Do Not Come to You by Chance made the highly esteemed newspaper's Best Books of the Year in 2009.


Adaobi is the Editor of Elan, a small glossy fashion and style magazine published by Timbuktu Media in Nigeria.