Irenosen Okojie shortlisted for 2016 BTP

Nigerian author, Irenosen Okojie has been shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize (BTP) for his novel, ‘Butterfly Fish’. The quartet also includes, Alex Christofi’s ‘Glass’, Natasha Pulley’s ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’, and ‘Weathering’ by Lucy Wood.  This announcement was made by the Society of Authors in a release. Okojie’s work was described by one […]

Nigerian author, Irenosen Okojie has been shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize (BTP) for his novel, ‘Butterfly Fish’. The quartet also includes, Alex Christofi’s ‘Glass’, Natasha Pulley’s ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’, and ‘Weathering’ by Lucy Wood. 
This announcement was made by the Society of Authors in a release. Okojie’s work was described by one of the judges, Michele Roberts, as “a bittersweet story uniting different traditions of narrative to create a whole new geography of the imagination.”
In 2013 Nigeria’s Chibundu Onuzo was a recipient of the award for her novel, ‘The Spider King’s Daughter’. She went home with £7, 000.
The Betty Trask Prize is given annually to a debut novel of literary merit by an author under the age of 35. The winner will receive £10,000 and will be announced at the Authors’ Awards ceremony on 21 June. The three runners-up will each receive a Betty Trask Award worth £5,000. 
The judges this year were, Simon Brett Joanne Harris and Michèle Roberts
The Prize and the Awards will be presented by John Agard
.Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to celebrate young authors writing in a traditional or romantic style.