The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), promoters of the yearly Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF), has called for submission of entries for the 2023 edition of the annual Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize For Book Review.
Dedicated to celebration of the life and career of the famous writer and environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed by the Nigeria State on November 10, 1995, the Prize is designed to encourage reading and engagement of the published text, which is in tandem with the core objective of the CORA and its prime project, the LABAF.
A release from the Programme Directorate of the festival spells out the features and conditions for the Prize as follows:
Modalities:
Ø Review of the drama text GRIT (by Obari Gomba) – winner of the 2023 Nigeria Prize for Literature worth $100,000
Ø Entries should be max 1500 words, min. 800 words
Ø Entries must be submitted latest 12 noon November 10, 2023 to coralabaf@gmail.com
Ø Competition open to only those in Age bracket: 18-25 years
Outlines:
Ø Announcement of shortlisted entries: Monday, November 13
Ø Announcement of Overall Winner: Wednesday, November 15
Ø Conferment of Prize on Winner: Friday, November 17 at Freedom Park, Lagos
Special guest of Honour: Obari Gomba, winner of the NPL 2023
Guest of Honour: Andy Odey, General Manager, ER & SD, NLNG.
The prize project was launched in 2015 on occasion of the 17th LABAF, which was dedicated to mark the 20th anniversary of the state killing of Saro-Wiwa, himself a keen observer, commentator, and critic of the quality of literature being produced in the country in his time.
Objectives: The project is designed to further a key objective of the CORA and LABAF— deepening the culture of reading and engagement of content of literary works, particularly fiction, drama, poetry and non-fiction –– all the genres where the late author, Ken Saro-Wiwa, excelled in his illustrious writing career.
