Nigerian Authors Nominated 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction

3 Nigerian Authors Have Been Nominated for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction

Ebun
March 8, 2019
Cover, News
Akwaeke Emezi Womens Fiction Prize, Diana Evans Womens Fiction Prize, Nigerian Authors 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction, Nigerians nominated for UK Women's Prize for Fiction, Oyinkan Braithwaite Womens Fictipn Prize
0 Comments

Nigerian writers continue to break barriers in the world of literature, as three Nigerian female authors have been longlisted for this year’s prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Every year, the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction awards this literary prize to one female author chosen from the millions of women all over the world who focus on feminity and other related different themes.

After receiving 163 entries, the organisers of the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction have announced their 2019 long list of 16 books.

Making the announcement, Professor Kate Williams, Chair of Judges said,

“Each of them has been a privilege to read. They have taken us into places a million miles from each other, exploring the lives of women and men in so many different but utterly compelling ways.”

The longlist, which is the UK’s foremost award for women in literature, includes 16 women, whose work represents a multitude of themes and perspectives. Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche won the award back in 2007 for Half of a Yellow Sun.

Writer Akwaeke Emezi earned a place on the longlist for their debut novel Freshwater, making them the first non-binary author to earn a nomination for the prize. In 2017, Emezi won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa, she is also a 2018 National Book Foundation ‘5 Under 35’ honoree.

Oyinkan Braithwaite, the author of the Lagos-set crime thriller My Sister, the Serial Killer has also been longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University.

The third Nigerian author nominated on the list is Diana Evans, the journalist, novelist and critic behind Ordinary People, a book that examines suburban black life through major cultural events, beginning with Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential victory. She has previously won the Orange Award for New Writers, the Betty Trask Award and the deciBel Writer of the Year award.