ArtsEntertainmentNews

CORA, NLNG hold Book Party for 11 shortlisted writers

Olayinka Oyegbile ooyegbile
Olayinka Oyegbile ooyegbile

The 11 novelists shortlisted for the 2021 $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature (NPL) are to be hosted Sunday, August 8 at the Eko Hotel & Suites, VI, Lagos

The party is the 12th CORA-NPL Book Party held annually for shortlisted writers.

The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), which organises the yearly Book Party with support of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ltd, said the event starting at 2pm, will hold in hybrid format – In-Person and Virtually.

The 11 writers on the shortlist are expected to attend physically, but those abroad will join virtually.

Guests not in the room are to join via: https://nlng.zoom.us/j/87037138733 ID: 870 3713 8733  | Passcode: 492864.

 

According to CORA, “The Book Party affords members of the public the opportunity to interact with the authors on their shortlisted works towards the announcement of the shortlist of three that will eventually yield the final winner of the Prize later in the year.”

Eyono Fatai-Williams, General Manager External Relations and Sustainable Development of the NLNG Ltd said, “The party also helps to promote a reading culture, especially among young Nigerians, engage relevant publics in literature, academia, and the media and stimulate public interest in the Longlisted works and the NPL.”

The $100,000 NPL is the biggest cash prize award for a literary competition on the continent.

“Although that is quite some significant amount of money in anyone’s account, CORA sees, in it an opportunity for the creation of an entire economy around the book trade”, according to Jahman Anikulapo, Programme Chair of CORA, who conceived the idea of the book party during a review of the first five years of the award in 2009.

The review was organized in response to calls that the prize should do more than being a glamourous Gala night in which one author got rich, but the Nigerian book trade and literary scene as a whole didn’t seem elevated.

The 11 novels shortlisted for the 18th NPL include, in alphabetical order:

  1. Delusion of Patriots– Obianuju V. Chukwuorji,
  2. Give Us Each Day– Samuel Monye,
  3. Imminent River – Anaele Ihuoma.
  4. In The Name of Our Father– Olukorede S. Yishau,
  5. Mountain of Yesterday– Tony Nwaka,
  6. Neglected– Lucy Chiamaka Okwuma.
  7. The Colours of Hatred– Obinna Udenwa,
  8. The Girl with The Louding Voice– Abi Dare,
  9. The Return of Half- Something– Chukwudi Eze,
  10. The Son of The House– Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia,
  11. Your Church, My Shrine– Law Ikay Ezeh
Share This Article