*Convener of Quramo Festival of Words, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore and the winner, Agbede
Ooreoluwa O. Agbede has emerged winner of the 2026 Quramo Writers Prize (QWP) with his manuscript, Four Months, taking the top prize at the 2026 edition of the literary competition.
The announcement was made during the 2026 QFest, where Agbede was recognised for his winning entry after competing alongside 19 other shortlisted writers.
Speaking on the judging process, the lead judge, Mrs. Ugonma Nduka-Nwosu, described the quality of the entries as impressive, saying the writers demonstrated an ability to observe their environments, conceptualise their experiences and use language to draw readers into unfamiliar worlds.
Nduka-Nwosu, who said it was her first time serving as a judge for the prize, expressed appreciation to QFest Convener, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore, for creating what she described as a significant platform for writers at a time when reading faces competition from digital distractions.
“When I saw the prize, I was surprised and elated at coming up with this huge prize,” she said, adding that the shortlisted writers had “a job to do” in contributing to the literary culture.
According to her, the entries were engaging enough to make the judges read and reread them, with several of the stories creating suspense and prompting questions about what would happen next.
“They took their time to write what’s very relatable. They did something very engaging. They let the readers be engaged. They made us read and reread, and they then created suspense. I kept wondering what happened next. Those are the kind of works they made us read,” she said.
Nduka-Nwosu also praised all 20 shortlisted writers for taking time to write and conceptualise the environments around them, noting that their works demonstrated strong powers of observation and an ability to transform everyday experiences into compelling narratives.
She said the judges had to approach the submissions with open minds, particularly because the stories covered diverse categories and themes, including romance, culture and human-interest narratives.
“We needed to have an open mind as to the categories of stories that spanned romance, cultural and human angle themes. We looked beyond what our individual interests are as judges, so as to accommodate the creative visions of the writers,” she said.
Nduka-Nwosu stressed that the judging was ultimately about the writers’ ability to work with words and piece together different elements of a story to create meaning.
She encouraged the shortlisted writers who did not win the top prize to continue developing their craft, saying, “At Quramo, even if you’re not a winner today, the sky is not even your limit as a writer.”
Speaking on the significance of the prize, QFest Convener, Gbemi Shasore, described the Quramo Writers Prize as one of her favourite aspects of the festival because it provides unpublished writers with an opportunity to create and bring their stories and traditions to a wider audience.
“This is my favourite part of QFest, as it provides unpublished writers a platform to create, and for people to birth their stories, their traditions,” Shasore said.
She explained that Quramo regularly revisits its longlisted and shortlisted manuscripts in search of works that could potentially be published, providing opportunities for writers beyond the competition itself.
Marking the anniversary edition of the prize, Shasore said the organisers increased the winner’s purse to ₦2 million, with additional prizes also provided for the second- and third-place winners.
For Agbede, the victory represents the culmination of a writing journey that predates his success at the 2026 competition. He revealed that he had previously been longlisted for the Quramo Writers Prize in 2022 with a different manuscript.
“I was longlisted in 2022 for a different MS. I have many MSs. I appreciate Quramo. What it’s doing is a very big thing for me,” he said.
The young writer said his experiences as a working person influenced Four Months, particularly the challenges associated with balancing creative work and a regular nine-to-five job. “As a young man, I know the struggles, especially for those who have regular 9-5. There are times I go to bed 2/3 a.m. The character gets its life from my own life,” he said.
Agbede expressed gratitude to Quramo and the judges for the recognition, while also congratulating the other shortlisted writers. “To my fellow shortlistees, I want to see everybody at the top,” he said.
