Makurdi, Nigeria – November 2024

The SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative, in collaboration with SEVHAGE Publishers, is excited to provide an update on the 2024 SEVHAGE Prizes. This year’s competition launched in the second quarter with calls for submissions in Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, and Literary Criticism. The submission window closed on 22nd September, and we are delighted to announce that we received an impressive 857 entries from across ten countries.

Overview of Entries:

• K & L Prize for Fiction (total prize worth: ₦600,000) – 352 entries
• Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE International Prize for Creative Non-Fiction (grand prize: ₦1,000,000) – 460 entries
• E. E. Sule/SEVHAGE Prize for African Literary Criticism – 45 entries

In October, we introduced the Vivian Ihaza [SEVHAGE] Teen Poetry Prize for young Nigerian writers aged 12 to 17, creating a unique space for upcoming voices in poetry. Submissions for this category are still open until 30th November 2024.

Our esteemed panel of readers and judges, led by Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi (multiple award-winning multi-genre writer, scholar, founding DG of the Nigeria Film Institute Jos, former acting Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan), has been tirelessly reviewing entries to ensure the highest standards in literary evaluation. We anticipate releasing the longlist by the first week of December 2024, with final winners announced later in the month and prizes awarded shortly after. Please note that any submitter who does not receive an mail from us by the second week of December should assume that their work(s) did not make the longlist.

On a similar note, in our commitment to showcasing African literature, we are thrilled to announce that the winning and selected entries from 2024 will be published in a special anthology, edited by the SEVHAGE team. Additionally, a separate volume featuring the winning and notable entries from the 2023 SEVHAGE Prizes will be published. Both volumes are set for release in the first quarter of 2025.

To stay informed about the competition’s progress, please follow us on social media (@sevhage and @sevhagedevt) and keep visiting our website here at www.sevhage.com.

We extend heartfelt gratitude to everyone who submitted their work and to our invaluable partners, whose support has made this year’s prizes possible. We are particularly grateful to Mrs Eugenia Abu and Professor Sule Emmanuel Egya, whose names grace two of our prize categories. Their contributions to literature and mentorship inspire our team and participants alike. Special thanks to Mrs Abu for her generous support in promoting this competition and for her ongoing encouragement. Additionally, we appreciate our collaborators, including the ALINEA Initiative, Konya Shamsrumi, Daisy Odey, Dr Victor Oladokun, and Dapo Olorunyomi, among others, for their support and goodwill.

Best of luck to all entrants, not only in this competition but in all your creative endeavours. Thank you for your continued support of SEVHAGE and African literature.

S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema
for the SEVHAGE Team