2018 NLNG Prize: Denja Abdullahi, 2 others on the shortlist.
Three books have been shortlisted for the 2018 NLNG Prize
for Literature including “Death and The
King’s Grey Hair.” by Denja
Abdullahi, the National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
The Advisory Board for the NLNG Prize lists other books on the shortlist as Embers by Soji Cole, and The Rally by Akanji Nasiru.
The NLNG Prize for literature rotates annually amongst four
literary genres – prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. The
2018 prize is for Drama genre, and 89 plays were submitted for the 2018 edition
prize, from which a longlist of 11 were released in July this year.
According to a Press Release signed by Andy Odeh, Manager,
Communications and Public Affairs of the NLNG, Denja Abdullahi’s “Death and The King’s Grey Hair” “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 they have
overstayed their welcome”.
Soji Cole in his 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”. In
the third book, The Rally, Akanji
Nasiru “addresses the contemporary political theme of youth versus age”.
The panel of judges, with Matthew Umukoro, a professor of
Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, chairing, with members Mohammed Inuwa
Umar - Buratai, a professor of Theatre and Performing Arts and the Dean of the
Faculty of Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria; and Ngozi
Udengwu, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies
at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, expressed satisfaction with the high of standard
of writing in the entries received for this year’s competition.
According to Prof. Umukoro, the three shortlisted plays
have high literary qualities of effective dialogue, good dramaturgical
structure, skilful handling of suspense, and credible characterization.
Prof. Ayo Banjo who is the Chair of the Advisory Board assured
that the Board will maintain the high literary standards the prize has already
attained ensuring that it remains the most prestigious literary prize in
Africa.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature has, since 2004, rewarded
eminent writers for quality writings. The prize has a cash value of a hundred
thousand US Dollars (USD $100, 000). The winner will be announced at a public
presentation in October this year.
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