At a press conference held in Lagos on Tuesday, April 15th, 2025, the entries for the 2025 Nigeria Prize for Literature were formally handed over to the Prize’s Advisory Board, led by literary icon and past winner, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo.
With an annual rotation among four literary genres—poetry, theatre, children’s literature, and prose fiction—the Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) and worth $100,000, remains one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world. The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism, a sub-genre of the prize and worth $10,000, rewards excellent literary critics of Nigerian literature.
Notable past winners in the Prose Fiction category include Kaine Agary (Yellow Yellow, 2008), Chika Unigwe (On Black Sisters’ Street, 2012), Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Season of Crimson Blossoms, 2016), and Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (The Son of the House, 2020/21). In 2024, Olúbùnmi Fámilóní won the Children’s Literature category with his book, The Road Does Not End.
The Advisory Board announced that they received 252 entries this year, compared to the 2021 Prose Fiction cycle, which saw just 202 entries.
Sophia Horsfall, NLNG’s General Manager for External Relations and Sustainable Development, comments: “This year’s record entries reaffirm the prize’s impact, proving that Nigerian literature is not only thriving but also commanding greater international recognition”
Professor Saeedat Bolajoko Aliyu of Kwara State University’s Department of English and Linguistics Studies is the chair of this edition’s judging panel. Mr. Olakunle Kasumu, a writer, director, producer, and host of Channels Television’s Book Club, and Professor Stephen Mbanefo Ogene, a professor of English language and literature at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, are among the other judges. Dr. Grace Musila, an associate professor in the University of the Witwatersrand’s Department of African Literature in Johannesburg, South Africa, is this year’s international consultant.
This promises to be the most competitive year yet, and the handing over of the entries kickstarts an intense and thorough adjudication process. The winning work will be announced in October.