I realized, just last week, that the call for entries for the Drama Category of the annual Nigeria Prize for Literature is out. The Prize, as will be familiar to those following Nigerian literary conversations, carries $100,000 and is awarded annually in four rotating genres. Last year’s winner, Ikeogu Oke, won for poetry (and you can watch my interview with him here, or read a review of his willing entry).
At a lunch invitation in Lagos with interested stakeholders, literary journalists, and selected members of the public, Mr. Tony Okonedo, Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at the Nigeria LNG spoke about the progress of the prize, fielded questions about its shortcomings and public expectations, and announced a number of initiatives being planned for this year’s edition.
One of the attendee inputs that got a favourable response by the organizers is the suggestion that NLNG consider sponsoring a command performance of whichever play that won the prize last. In this case, that will be Iredi War written by Sam Ukala, and which won in 2014 when the Drama Prize was last awarded. I can already imagine such a performance (open to the public, perhaps) helping to draw more attention to the prize, the winning writer, and the genre in particular.
Another suggestion which I particularly like will involve having the NLNG sponsor a type of writing workshop every year either with all the longlisted authors in its prize categories or for selected and/interested writers who are then taken to the Island of Bonny where NLNG makes most of its money through the liquified natural gas. Either that or a type of residency. What I’ve heard of the tranquil nature of that island makes this something of a perfect fit.
According to a press release, the NLNG-sponsored Science Prize will also be accepting entries on Innovations in Electric Power Solutions. The literature prize opened on February 13, 2018 and will close on March 29, 2018. The window for the science prize, on the other hand, opened on February 15, 2018, and will close on May 25, 2018.
Professor Matthew Umukoro will chair the panel of judges for this year’s Literature prize competition. He is a professor of Theatre Arts at University of Ìbàdàn. Other members include Professor Mohammed Inuwa Buratai, a Professor of Theatre and Performing Arts and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria; and Dr. Mrs Ngozi Udengwu, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Do people still write plays? Silly question, I know. But are there still many being published every year, a vibrant industry like we have for prose and, sometimes, poetry? I don’t know. Are unpublished plays eligible for this prize even? If not, why not? I know, though, that Sefi Atta published a collection last year, so I look forward to seeing the writers on this year’s long and shortlist. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to interview the shortlisted playwrights as well. Still, about 10 days for you to enter if you qualify. More information here.
