Enteries for Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature open

Chairman, Tanus Communications and founding
Chairman of Lumina Foundation, Dr. Yemi
Ogunbiyi, has called on corporate Nigerians
and individuals to give moral and financial
support to the sustenance of the Wole Soyinka
Prize for Literature.
He said the biennial award organised by
Lumina Foundation is getting bigger each year
and its standard must be sustained.
The winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for
Literature goes home with $20,000.
Ogunbiyi spoke in Lagos yesterday while
commiserating with families and media houses
on last week’s death of some executive
members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists
(NUJ) in a motor accident.
The chairman of the foundation, Mrs.
Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, announced the
call for entries for the fifth edition of the Wole
Soyinka Prize for Literature holding on July 5,
next year. She said the genre for the 2014
prize is drama, adding that any published play
or collection of plays by an author of African
descent published within the two years
preceding the year of the prize (2012 and
2013) is eligible.
She said based on the judges’ recommendation,
the Board of Trustees of the foundation chose
drama for the fifth edition which coincides
with Soyinka’s birthday and that he is well
known for. She hinted that plans are underway
to increase the cash prize from $20,000 in
next edition.
Mrs. Emanuel explained that each year,
starting from next year, the prize will rotate
through the following genres, published play
or collection of plays by a single author,
published collection of poetry by a single
author and published novels by a single
author.
The Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature is a
biennial award for the best literary work
produced by an African, and has been serving
as an African equivalent of the Nobel prize,
particularly in recognising and encouraging
professional and personal excellence.