SEVHAGE is proud to invite entries from the general public in the categories for the 2024 edition:
- The Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE International Prize for Creative Non-Fiction (500-2000 words). Open to all writers anywhere and everywhere.
- The K & L Prize for Fiction for a work of short fiction (800-2000 words) that focus on mental health and reduce stigma while encouraging positive stories to promote well-being. Open to African writers.
- The E. E. Sule/SEVHAGE Prize for African Literary Criticism (4,500 to 6,000 words, aside works cited) for a critical work on an African author, work, and/or literary theory. Open to African writers.
- The Vivian Ihaza (SEVHAGE) Teen Poetry Prize (50 Lines) for a poem by a teenager (ages 12-17) on any theme. Open to Nigerians only.
Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi, multiple award-winning multi-genre writer, scholar, Professor of Broadcast Media and former Vice Chancellor of the Dominican University Ibadan, will serve as the Chief Judge for this year’s prizes, ensuring the selection of the highest-quality entries.
🌟 The competition is open to writers globally and is free to enter. The winner will receive varying amounts of money, dependent on category, with additional opportunities for other shortlisted entries. Furthermore, portions of their work will be featured in an exhibition in Nottingham, England, as part of the SEVHAGE Festival.
📅 Submission Dates: 1st May 2024 to 22nd September 2024 [23:59 WAT].
[Vivian Ihaza Prize: Deadline: 20th November 2024)
THE EUGENIA ABU/SEVHAGE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION 2024 (N1,000,000.00) [Deadline: 22nd September 2024 23:59]
The Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE Creative Non-Fiction Prize looks to encourage exploration into the non-fiction genre among writers, while celebrating Mrs Eugenia Abu, one of Nigeria’s cherished broadcast journalists. Like the ALINEA Prize, a sister prize, this prize looks “for work that reaches beyond truth.” The prize is worth One Million Naira and open to anyone anywhere in the world. For guidelines on this prize, please click on this link. This prize is in partnership with the ALINEA Initiative.
THE K & L PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024 (Worth N600,000.00 + Publication) [Deadline: 22nd September 2024 23:59]
With a star prize of Five Hundred Thousand Naira and twenty thousand naira for shortlisted entries, this SEVHAGE Short Fiction Prize is for a work of short fiction (800-2000 words) that focus on mental health and reduce stigma while encouraging positive stories to promote well-being. For guidelines on this prize, please click on this link. This prize money is majorly in part, courtesy of an endowment by Dr Myles Idoko Ojabo.
The E. E. SULE/SEVHAGE PRIZE FOR AFRICAN LITERARY CRITICISM 2024 (N285,000) [Deadline: 29th August 2024 23:59]
This award for critical writing (4,500 to 6,000 words) is named in honour of Nigeria’s prominent scholar and literary critic, Professor Sule Emmanuel Egya (a.k.a E. E. Sule), an outstanding writer, whose lifelong works in criticism are visionary and inspiring. Started in 2023, the prize is originally pegged at a hundred thousand naira with the prize money and administration cost fully funded by the SEVHAGE team. However, as a swift response to recent criticism of the prize money, the money was adjusted to N285,000 in June 2024 due to a donation from a partner and support from the SEVHAGE team. For guidelines on entry for this prize, please visit this link.
The VIVIAN IHAZA [SEVHAGE] TEEN POETRY PRIZE (N220,000) [Deadline: 20th November 2024 23:59]
This award for poetry (50 lines maximum) is named in loving memory of Vivian Ihaza, who was a compassionate individual, a seasoned professional, and an advocate for knowledge-sharing and the arts. The competition is open to Nigerian writers (aged 12 to 17) with submissions sent as an MS word to the SEVHAGE Prizes email. The top prize is N220,000 while there are other prizes and/or commendation for the second through to fifteenth position.
For guidelines on entry for this prize, please visit this link.
The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes are a group of annual literary and art prizes organized by SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers (a subset of SEVHAGE Integrated Services Ltd) in collaboration with various partners, open to Africans and other writers globally. Initiated in its current format in 2019, the Prizes aim to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions of African creatives across various categories including poetry, prose, spoken word, drama, dancing, and general writing. The Prizes succeed various other awards established and independently administered and funded by SEVHAGE on an annual basis since 2013.
Past winners and runners-up of the prizes have included [POETRY] Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Adedayo Agarau, Pamilerin Jacob; Adenle Iyanuoluwa Deborah, Osi Stanley Chijioke; [SPOKEN WORD] Abbas Suleiman, Hafsat Abdullahi, Younglan Talyoung, and Elizabeth KJ Umoru; [PROSE] Ebuka Prince Okoroafor, Hajaarh Muhammad Bashar, and Olaposi Washington Halim; [CREATIVE NON-FICTION) Odueso Oluwatimilehin Charles, David Iruoje, Samuel Amazing Ayoade, and Nguher Terungwa James.
The 2023 main winners are Arasi Kamolideen Oluwapelumi (E. E. Sule/SEVHAGE Prize for African Criticism); Amanda Ilozumba and Ola W. Halim (SEVHAGE/Leticia Nyitse Prize for Short Fiction); Abasi-maenyin Esebre (SEVHAGE/Maria Ajima Prize for Creative Non-Fiction); and Sodiq Oyekanmi (SEVHAGE-KSR Hyginus Ekwuazi Poetry Prize). For a full list of the 2023 Winners, please CLICK HERE.
To read our 2023 report with a list of our past winners since 2019, please SPECIFIC REPORT ON SEVHAGE PRIZES 2024. Send inquiries to sevhageprizes@gmail.com
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