Winner emerges in the Saraba Manuscript Project

Frontline online webzine Saraba’s hunt for new writing talents across the country in the Saraba Manuscript Prize has come to an end with an announcement of the winner, along with four other shortlisted writers. From a long list of 10 writers, who submitted novella manuscripts for consideration, Eboka Chukwudi Peter was announced as the winner […]

Frontline online webzine Saraba’s hunt for new writing talents across the country in the Saraba Manuscript Prize has come to an end with an announcement of the winner, along with four other shortlisted writers.
From a long list of 10 writers, who submitted novella manuscripts for consideration, Eboka Chukwudi Peter was announced as the winner for his manuscript entitled ‘Mosaic: Stitches of Stories Lived, Stories Learned and Stories Told’.
The prize includes an award of N100,000 to the winning author. All shortlisted writers will receive a publishing deal from Saraba Literary Trust, including 100,000 naira advance against royalties.
The four shortlisted writers are Hajara Hussaini Ashara for her work ‘1994’, Amarachi Priscilla Ekekwe for ‘Beyond the Beautiful Sea’, Ebelechukwu Ijeoma Mogo for ‘IJBG and Other Stories’ and TJ Benson for ‘We Won’t Fade into Darkness’.
Judge Rotimi Babatunde, 2012 Caine Prize winner, speaking on behalf of other judges Azafi Omoluabi Ogosi of Parresia Publishers and Eghosa Imasuen of Farafina said, “The stylistic variety of the ten works longlisted for the Saraba Manuscript Prize, as well as their diversity in matters of theme and setting, is refreshing. Noteworthy in their different ways, the works collectively communicate the impressive creative energies powering the practice of rising voices in new Nigerian fiction. The longlist confirms the abundance of literary potential yet untapped by publishing in Nigeria. We hope that all the manuscripts, including the ones that did not make the shortlist, will find a home in the hearts of readers in Nigeria and around the world…”
In announcing Peter the winner, Babatunde praised him for “his visceral excavations of the subterranean anguish of contemporary life using sinuous, prehensile prose that opens up new aesthetic possibilities in Nigerian fiction.”
With seed funding for the project from the Miles Morland Foundation, Saraba intends to publish ten manuscript that made the cut with the announcement of the shortlist and winner beginning a yearlong process of publishing and promoting the manuscripts in book form.