ACT announces shortlist for 2017 Awards

The Awele Creative Trust, established by Nigerian writer Chika Unigwe, has announced a shortlist of six for its 2017 short story prize for unpublished writers. The award aims to encourage aspiring writers in Nigeria with an annual short story award with a monetary sum of N50,000 attached to it.

“All six of our shortlisted writers have embraced the freedom that the short fiction form offers to experiment, to be innovative, to mix old myths with new ones. Their stories are bold, touching and entertaining. Born between 1993 and 1998, these writers assure us that the future of writing is in good hands with Nigeria’s youth,” Dr Unigwe, who is also the creative director of ACT, said of the shortlisted stories and writers. The shortlist Famous Ogbewe for The Goat Thief Olakunle Ologunro for With What Mouth Does One Tell This Kind of Story Imade Iyamu Oduduwa for The Return Tochukwu Okafor for This is How You Lose Your Mind Dami Lare for Solving for X Adams Adeosun for Theatre of Tattered Things

The ACT was set up in 2014 by Chika Unigwe. The other board members are Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo, Prof. Femi Osofisan, Kanene Dieobi and Ichie Nnaeto Orazulike.

The first ACT award was given in January 2015 to Caleb Adebayo whose story was praised for “wonderful ear for dialogue , a strong voice and beautiful writing.”

Judges for the prize in the past have included Justine Labalestier, Brian Chikwava, Toni Kan Onwordi, Madeleine Thien, Joe Dunthorne, Chibundu Onuzo, Vamba Sherif and Monica Arac d’Nyeko.