Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa

Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is a pan-African writing prize awarded biennially,^[1] to recognize the best literary work produced by an African. It was established by The Lumina Foundation^[2] in 2005 in honour of Africa's first Nobel Laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka,^[1] who normally presents the prize, chosen by an international jury of distinguished literary figures.^[3] Administered by the Lumina Foundation (whose chief executive is Dr. Ogochukwu Promise),^[4] the Wole Soyinka Prize has been described as "the African equivalent of the Nobel Prize".^[5]

The prize is awarded every other year to an African writer, and the winner receives $20,000 at the awards ceremony in Lagos or a selected city in Africa.^[6] Entries must be written in English or French.^[7] Although originally all genres were considered for every award, beginning with 2014 there would be one genre eligible for each edition of the award,^[8] with drama being considered for 2014,^[9] poetry in 2016 and prose in 2018.^[10][11][12]

Winners

• 2006 Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come. The inaugural award took place on 5 August 2006 at the Muson Centre, Lagos, Nigeria,^[13] where the guest speaker was former Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor.^[14]
• 2008 Nnedi Okorafor, Zahrah the Windseeker^[13]
• 2010 (shared prize)^[13]
  • Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, I Do Not Come To You By Chance
  • Kopano Matlwa, Coconut
  • Wale Okediran, Tenants of The House
• 2012 Sifiso Mzobe, Young Blood^{[15][16][17][18]}
• 2014 Akin Bello, The Egbon of Lagos (play)^[19][20]

Notes

External links

• Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa at The Lumina Foundation – official website.