Tag: Cole

Three books of the list of 11 released in July have made it to the NLNG final shortlist. The books are Embers by Soji Cole, Death and The King’s Grey Hair by Denja Abdullahi and The Rally by Akanji Nasiru.

The list was approved by the Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature, according to a statement signed by NLNG Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, Andy Odeh, at the weekend.

With this year’s edition focusing on Drama, 89 plays were submitted.

Come October, at a public presentation, the winner will go home with the prize worth $100,000.  The prize rotates yearly among four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature.

Prof Emeritus Ayo Banjo, who leads the Advisory Board, assured that his board will retain the high literary standards the prize has attained, ensuring that it remains the most prestigious literary prize in Africa. The panel of judges led by a professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, Matthew Umukoro, expressed delight at the high standard of writing evident in the entries for the competition this year.

Umukoro said all three plays have high literary qualities of effective dialogue, good dramaturgical structure, skilful handling of suspense, and credible characterisation, which have seen them through to this stage of the competition.

Other members of the panel are Mohammed Inuwa Umar-Buratai, professor of Theatre and Performing Arts and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria; and Ngozi Udengwu, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Death and The King’s Grey Hair by a literary essayist and National President Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Abdullahi, confronts the issue of perpetuation in power, where rulers, like the king in this drama, employ all sorts of devices to cling on to power, long after he has overstayed their welcome.

Cole’s Embers focuses on life in one of the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps in Northern Nigeria. The characters gave testimonies of their ugly encounters in Sambisa Forest, as well as their painful discovery of life in the IDP Camp.

A member of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ibadan, Soji Cole, teaches undergraduates play writing at the Department of Theatre Arts.

The Rally by Nasiru addresses the contemporary political theme of youth versus age. Nasiru is a professor of Performing Arts, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State.

This year’s prize has as its International Consultant to the Advisory Board, Jonathan Haynes, professor of English at Long Island University in Brooklyn.

Advisory Board, besides Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo, are Prof. Jerry Agada, former Minister of State for Education, former President Association of Nigerian Authors, and Professor Emeritus, Ben Elugbe, former President Nigerian Academy of Letters and President West-African Linguistic Society (2004-2013).

The Nigeria Prize for Literature has, since 2004, rewarded eminent writers such as Gabriel Okara (co-winner, 2004, poetry), Professor Ezenwa Ohaeto (co-winner, 2004, poetry) for The Dreamer, His Vision; Ahmed Yerima (2005, drama) for his play, Hard Ground;  Mabel Segun (co-winner, 2007, children’s literature) for her collection of short plays Reader’s Theatre; Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo (co-winner, 2007, children’s literature) for her book, My Cousin Sammy; Kaine Agary (2008, prose) for her book Yellow Yellow; Esiaba Irobi (2010, drama) who clinched the prize posthumously with his book Cemetery Road; Adeleke Adeyemi (2011, children’s literature) with his book The Missing Clock; Chika Unigwe (2012, prose), with her novel, On Black Sisters Street; Tade Ipadeola (2013, poetry) with his collection of poems, The Sahara Testaments, Prof. Sam Ukala (2014, drama) with his play, Iredi War; Seasons of Crimson Blossom, Abubakar Adamu Ibrahim (2016, prose); and The Heresiad, Ikeogu Oke (2017, poetry).