Four Nigerian writers shortlisted for 2017 Miles Morland Writers’ Scholarship
Four Nigerian writers are in the 21-man shortlist for the 2017 Miles Morland Writers’ Scholarship According to the list released Thursday by the Miles Morland Foundation in London, writers Ukamaka Olisakwe, Umar Turaki, Elnathan John and Eloghosa Osunde are the four Nigerians shortlisted from the 550 entries received.
South Africa leads the list with six writers while Kenya has four, same as Nigeria, with two coming from Cameroon.
“It is always difficult to choose the shortlist,” a statement on the foundation’s website said. “The standard of writing increases every year, making the pool to choose from ever wider. We had nearly 550 entries this year, our highest number to date, with writers applying from 30 countries. We are excited by the array of talent we have on our shortlist, ranging from writers in their twenties to one in his seventies. Once more we have seen the energy, originality, and wit in our entries that characterises so much of modern African writing. We are also heartened to see six non-fiction candidates on the shortlist from one last year.”
Winners of the annual scholarship to be decided in December will receive £18,000 each over the course of a year to enable them work on a full length novel. While Non-fiction writers may be given £27,000 over the course of eighteen months, if they need to do additional research.
The judges, with Ellah Wakatama Allfrey from Zimbabwe in the chair, assisted by Femi Terry from Sierra Leone and Muthoni Garland from Kenya, will meet on Dec 4th to select the 2017 scholars.