THE Conveners of the James Currey Prize for African Literature have announced the call for the 2022 competition. Members of the Jury were also unveiled in the early hours of today.
Founder and director of the £1000 prize, Onyeka Nwelue, who made the announcement from Oxford University, UK, where he is currently an Academic Visitor at the African Studies Centre at University of Oxford, said:
“As we announce the jury and calls for submission for next year’s prize, we are delighted to also announce the James Currey Fellowship, in cooperation with African Studies Centre. We are grateful to University of Oxford for this privilege to partner.”
This is the second edition of the Prize project, which though launched last year, has garnered huge interest in Africa’s literary circuit, largely because of the transparent nature of its structure and adjudication process as well as pedigree of its usually well chosen Jury.
The inaugural edition last year was won by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu, a Nigerian writer and poet, with his manuscript, And Then He Sang a Lullaby. He received the cash prize of £1000, an agency representation, a laptop (gifted by the Jury Chair, Sarah Inya-Lawal) and an offer for a book deal.
According to Nwelue, himself a serial award-winning writer with 11 books, filmmaker of six flicks and literary activist, “The pivot for the James Currey Prize for African Literature, that we instituted in 2020, for an unpublished full-length work of fiction intends to perpetuate the value of the African Writers Series and other such initiatives in contemporary African literature exposure, and distribution.”
For the criteria, Nwelue, listed:
a) Writers may enter up to two unpublished full-length manuscripts.
b) Entry forms must be submitted by April 1st, 2022 to [email protected]
A longlist of ten titles will be announced on June 1st, 2022.
A shortlist of three titles will be announced on July 1st, 2022.
The winner will be announced on September 3rd, 2022.
For more details:
The JCP for Literature Jury for 2002 are:
Ever Obi (Nigeria), Chair
Ever Obi (Chair) is a business executive and fiction writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University and University of Lagos, where he was awarded a master’s degree in risk management. He was born and raised in Aba, the Enyimba City.Some Angels Don’t See God is his second novel. He is also the author of the acclaimed mystical novel, Men Don’t Die.
Charmaine Mujeri (Zimbabwe)
Charmaine R Mujeri is a Zimbabwean based theatre and film actress and writer. Nominated in 2020 for AMAA as best supporting actress for her role as Zoe in Mirage and ASDA best newcomer and supporting actress as MacDuff in the Reps theatre adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. She is best known for her role as Charmaine in the award winning local film Cook Off that was incidentally the first Zimbabwean production on Netflix. Her most notable performances are in the Danai Gurira play, The Convert as Prudence, and Kaguvi in Blessing Hungwes Lovers in Time.
Thomas Lubik Amanquandor (Ghana)
Born in Ghana, Thomas Duke Labik Amanquandor is currently a research fellow at the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty, Halmstad University-Sweden. He holds an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford, a 2-year MSc in Sociology of Law from Lund University, a 3-year bachelor’s degree in Integrated Development Studies (First Class Honours), and a 2-year Diploma in Integrated Community Development (Distinction), both from the University for Development Studies in Ghana. He currently works on ICLD and EU funded anti-corruption research projects in Uzbekistan, Vietnam and South Africa. Labik Amanquandor is also the author of the forthcoming historical novel “The Half Moon.”
Suraj Yengde (India)
Dr. Suraj Yengde is one of India’s leading scholars and public intellectuals. Suraj is an author of the bestseller Caste Matters and co-editor of award-winning anthology The Radical in Ambedkar. Suraj’s recent appointment was Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He holds a research associate position with the department of African and African American Studies, a non-resident fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, and is part of the founding team of Initiative for Institutional Anti-Racism and Accountability (IARA) at Harvard University. He has studied in four continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America), and is India’s first Dalit Ph.D. holder from an African university (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg). He is an International Human Rights attorney by qualification from India and the UK. His recent work with the philosopher Cornel West has received global attention and calls for unity between African Americans and Dalits. He is a DPhil Student at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.
Olukorede S Yishau
Olukorede S Yishau is an award-winning journalist, novelist and short story writer. His first novel, In the Name of Our Father, has been a subject of theses by students in Nigerian universities. The novel, described by two-time Booker finalist Chigozie Obioma as a ‘work of deceptive simplicity’, was nominated for the 2021 Nigeria Prize for Literature. His collection of short stories Vaults of Secrets was published October 1st, 2020. His poems were published in an anthology of poetry ACTIVISTS POETS. His essays and short stories have appeared in different publications. He holds a degree in Mass Communications from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria as well as a professional diploma in Public Relations.
Peace Anyiam-Osigwe
A Nigerian filmmaker and entertainment executive, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, MFR, has been called “the queen of Nollywood films”.She is the founder of globally acclaimed film ceremony, Africa Movie Academy Awards. She directed the first music video of hip-hop sensation, P-Square. In 2012, she was bestowed a Member of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to the entertainment industry. She is a TED fellow.
Teri Sillo
Teri Sillo is a British novelist, singer songwriter, artist, pianist and guitarist. She was born in Sheffield, England, studied Law at the University of Liverpool and was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a barrister by the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London. She loves live classical music shows and the theatre.
