The 2024 Commonwealth Short Prize Regional winners have been announced.

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A writing workshop is a great opportunity for budding writers to have their works subjected to peer review and critique. Readers and writers workshops come in various models, but the goals are to teach writers to be better writers

Every year, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie organizes the Purple Hibiscus Creative writing workshop. Various writers are selected to hone their crafts. Teaching the writing workshops are professional writers.

In 2018, Simbiat Haroun attended the writer’s workshop. In her essay, she shares everything she learned. From the writing workshop model to the writing tips. Simbiat bares it all. Ready to learn how to write like a noble laureate? Keep reading.

Writing Workshop With Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Learning To Write Like A Nobel Laureate At The Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop.

The thing to know about acceptance letters is that they usually come when you least expect them. Most people are never ready for an official endorsement of their work.

Even if you send in your best, the moment the positive feedback comes is usually so euphoric that every thought flies out of your head no matter how prepared you thought you were to receive it.

You forget the certainty that made you send out the application in the first place. And then, you forget the fact that by getting this chance, you have robbed hundreds, maybe thousands of people of the opportunity.

You even forget people. And you forget where you are. Chances are that you even forget your body. Then, you condense as you become a mixture of air and euphoria.

This feeling enveloped me at five a.m. on the seventh of November, when I woke up to check my email. You must know that the day before, I had been looking up writing workshop attendees.

What had I been researching? Everything. I had been checking the number of people who are being accepted to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s creative writing workshop each year.

Also, I’d been sending pathetic messages to my younger brother, wailing to him about how I would never get into this highly selective writers’ workshop.

So in the morning, I woke up to go to work, and I checked my email because Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie would be sending out emails to the luck workshop participants that day.

When I saw the subject of the mail, my palms became clammy and my breath started to come out in puffs. Fear crawled through my body unknowing to me – the sneaky bastard – and sat firmly in my blood, planted itself on my chest.

With this choking feeling acting as a witness to one of the most euphoric moments of 2018 for me (it comfortably sits in the top five), I opened the mail.

“Dear Simbiat, thank you for applying to the Purple Hibiscus Trust Creative Writing Workshop,”

it began. No clue of what was coming. After,

“I am pleased to let you know you’ve been accepted…”

and finally,

“I enjoyed reading your entry…”

My Reaction To The Acceptance Letter.

My body became one again and I flew up, down, up, down and the floor was shaking beneath my feet and I was vibrating with excitement, and my youngest brother, who had slept in my room that night, was jarred awake by my silent screaming. (I was dimly conscious of how early it was and I did try to keep it down). Unimpressed, he begged me to tone it down, and then he went back to sleep.

I continued to jump up and down, stopping at some points to try to let out excited tears – which never came out –and trying and failing to contain my excitement. That was probably my best day at work after I managed to calm down long enough to get ready.

After I told my brother, who at first couldn’t believe it and then I told my parents but they didn’t understand the gravity of what had happened. They correctly read the waves of excitement pouring from my body and extended their most hearty congratulations.

For the duration of the days it took between receiving that letter and going off to the writing workshop, I was buzzing with excitement, making plans, making, and canceling arrangements.

The Arrival To The Writing Workshop Venue.

Finally, the day came for me to leave home. I arrived at the hotel a day before the writing workshop was due to start (as did most of us, really).

I lived in Lagos, where the writer’s workshop was billed to take place, so I could have to the workshop early on the start date. But I was too excited to wait for a whole day.

The day I got there, it was if a rush of creative juices got emptied on my head. This is proof that the writing workshop still works. The conducive environment and the idea of collaborative learning simply make the writer more productive.

I sat at a very comfortable writing desk, with its bright lights, and its soft perfect chair and its distracting mirror. And I wrote two stories. Afterward, I ate and slept.

How To Write Like A Pro. Everything I Learned From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie On Day 1 Of The Writing Workshop.

The next day, the writing workshop kicked off. To prepare, I did nothing. It was all in the mind, I reasoned, and short of literally cracking my skull and parting it open, there was nothing I could do to fully get ready.

I had attended the writing workshop only to learn how to write like a nobel laureate. Some other participants hoped to learn about teaching writing workshops. I realized later on that the later was also a useful skill.

Don’t think about the audience when writing, think about the story.

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

At the top of my mind was my decision to do my best. And hopefully not remain star-struck throughout the creative writing workshop!

When I got downstairs, I was greeted by a congregation of eager students clustered in pockets of small groups. There, I met H. I joined her small cluster, which consisted of herself and G.

I remember that day and all the others that followed very vividly. We sat together and spoke about the things that connected us: our nervousness at meeting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. We spoke about our uncertainty about being at the writing workshop, random things, mundane things.

Soon, it was time to eat and we proceeded to the dining room; I still miss the food. After, I quickly went to the room where we were to have classes.

Chairs were arranged in a U formation, with sweets, a bottle of water and a jotter and a biro. I walked in and I sat. Less than five minutes later, I walked out again and went back to the dining room.

The room was too cold and I had been the only one there, everybody else was too busy learning the patterns of other people’s minds.

Many minutes later, we were ushered back into the room, into the freezing cold. It felt like stepping through the doorway from the summer into the winter. Somehow, in the minutes I had been away, it had become even colder. We sat there in the cold, waiting.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Comes To Teach The Creative Writers’ Workshop

When Chimamanda finally walked into the room, I can only speak for myself and say that it felt like the sun had just risen. She had a large smile on her face, and she was gorgeous and she looked genuinely happy to meet us.

I didn’t notice when but eventually, I felt the strain in my cheeks that told me I was smiling widely. She came in and sat beside me, to my immediate right.

When editing, look at the first and last few sentences.

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Here was a woman whose books I had read back to back and who I had loved for so many years and she was sitting so close that if I stretched my hand, I would have been able to touch her. She smiled at us many times and then she introduced herself to raucous, disbelieving laughter.

“We already know you!” Many of us wanted to shout. “We know everything there is to know about you.”

She told us bits about herself, declared the room a safe space, and invited us to share pieces of ourselves. It was like we were transported out of that freezing space by the sea to the safest place everyone could be. (For me, it was an island away from civilization).

It was like we had been transported and told that we could be our deepest truest selves. Some of us poked the change with sticks, and others embraced it wholeheartedly.

What is important is that one after the other, we shared pieces of ourselves. And in that room, we started to form bonds that I believe will endure. And this is what I found most fascinating about the writing workshop model Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie built.

Why Our Writing Samples Stood Out From The Other Applicants.

After our brief introduction, we began the business of the day. Chimamanda told us why she had selected the stories she did.

Use more detail so that your story is more believable.

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

She didn’t pick perfect stories, she said. She added that It had been particularly hard that year, to select the stories she did. And then she began to critique our entry stories one after the other.

During the course of this session, which stretched into the next day, she shared a few gems. I’ll share a few of the writing tips Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shared while she was teaching the writing workshop:

• Don’t think about the audience when writing, think about the story.
• When writing out of your box (gender, nationality, etc.), it is important to come to it with humility.
• When editing, look at the first and last few sentences.
• Use more detail so that your story is more believable.
• Allow your characters some vulnerability.
• Be specific but don’t overdo it in order to write a more believable story.

Finally, she got to my story. And she told me something I will remember forever. Sorry, I will not share it with you.

The First Three Days Of The Writers’ Workshop and The Writing Prompts We Explored.

We spent the first three days of the writing workshop with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

We wrote more stories. They can serve as a writing workshop idea or a writing prompt for you.

• One assignment was to write a story using only dialogue,
• Another prompt involved a story about what we like and dislike about ourselves. These exercises opened us up and forced us to confront parts of ourselves we had never dared to open up.

For many of us (myself included), we had never been able to write anything so personal. For many of us, it was like opening a can of worms.

The stories were so hard to write but eventually, the worms grew into butterflies. We found that we were better for the sleepless nights we had to endure to complete our writing assignments.

Writing Tip: There should always be layers in everything you write.

— Lola Shoneyin.

So yes, the first three days of the writing workshop were daunting but absolutely worth it. Above all, they were fun as we had started to develop stronger relationships over fried fish, and chicken curry sauce, and salads, with sugary drinks to wash it all down.

The Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop With Lola Shoneyin, Author and Founder Of The Ake Festival.

The fourth day of the writing workshop saw us paired with Lola Shoneyin and brought what would become a fun, poetry session.

Writing Tip: Use symbolism to show how people are different.

— Lola Shoneyin.

I definitely did not know before I met her that she had published at least three poetry collections. And that she’d published these before releasing her critically-acclaimed novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.

During the writing workshop, Lola taught us about brevity and subtlety in writing. The workshop participants learned how to use writing as therapy.. And we learned about foreshadowing.

Some golden creative writing tips she shared with us are as follows:

• There should always be layers in everything you write. This will help you build a great narrative arc.
• To be able to tell overly personal experiences, learn to detach yourself.
• The more you translate someone’s work into your language, the better your description will be.
• Use symbolism to show how people are different.

She also discussed how to write from many perspectives when writing a novel. To make it all easier, here are some things to note when writing different voices:

• Draw very clear lines.
• Get to know each character intimately.
• Write down a character bible.

To practice, we took a poem that Lola chose. After she’d separated us into groups of four, we translated it into pidgin.

This exercise was an illustration of how description can be more vivid when translated into your language. It showed how translation exercises can aid the writer in painting a clearer picture in a story.

The Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop With Tash Aw.

After Lola was Tash Aw with whom we learned to write about people who are close to us.

Write about things you’re more emotionally drawn to.

— Tash Aw

Tash’s writing workshop model was slightly different from Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s model.

Tash Aw had us pair up. And for his assignment, we had to discuss parts of ourselves with our partners. From what each writer had learned of the other person, everyone had to write a story about their partner. It had to be something they could relate to.

Colour narratives of people with what you know about them.

— Tash Aw

On the second day, my roommate, D, finally arrived. And it was with her that I completed this assignment. This was particularly hard for me, and I ended up doing a fairly decent job only on my second try.

Are you interested in trying this writing workshop idea? Here are some writing tips which I noted from Tash’s class:

• Write about things you’re more emotionally drawn to.
• Be able to say the things that they said, didn’t say, and could have said.
• Stories can be used to antagonize the subject.
• Writing is about going into their emotional space, about invading their personal lives.
• Colour narratives of people with what you know about them.

Learning How To Write From Eghosa Imaseun.

Next, the workshop participants enjoyed a visit from Eghosa Imaseun. Before he showed up, he sent us stories to read. Short stories and articles that taught us a lot about the proper way to submit stories and how to maintain voices while we write.

We also got an assignment to re-write a chapter of a popular book. The winner took home the complete set of Chimamanda Adichie’s books (I’m still jealous, T).

Below are some things to note from Eghosa’s writing class. His tips focused on things to consider when submitting a book to a publisher:

Write a striking cover letter.

Write a letter of approach requesting publication. This should have three parts: why you write, what you write, who you are.

Include A Short Synopsis.

Summarize what you’ve written in two sentences. Include why you’re the best person to tell the story.

Include Samples Of Your Work.

Submit three chapters or 50 pages or 10,000 words of your novel, whichever is longer.

Don’t Hesitate To Send A Follow-Up Email To The Publisher.

Follow up on your submission after two months.

Follow The Publisher’s Submission Guidelines.

The safest thing is to go to their submissions page and check if they have a preferred format; it’s usually best to send a traditional format.

Eghosa was hard surfaces with soft tips. He asked questions and actually expected an answer. Again, he was self-critical and magnanimous. And he said things that shocked you but at the same time did not, because you knew he meant them.

You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.

He shared some tips about points of view with us and their specific differences. An important thing I learned during Eghosa’s session is that the best way to transport yourself to the time where you’re writing is to use music and things that are relevant to that place.

What Dave Eggers Taught At The Writing Workshop About Points Of View And Editing.

.

Dave Eggers was last to see us but in no way the least. With Dave, we discussed how to humanize a character, for writing about people we don’t particularly like.

Some of the ways a writer can humanize a character are:

• Show vulnerability in the character.
• Portray the character with someone or something they love.
• Present their weakness in relatable ways.
• Reveal their doubts, their internal struggles.
• Show what they are like when they fail.
• Reveal their inner justification for evil. In most cases, people who do evil think they have good reasons for their actions.
• Take readers into the character’s head.

Dave took us through an invaluable editing class that is worth more than I can ever say. Gold, maybe? With Dave, we discussed experimental stories, stories that are told not from the typical points of view but strange ones.

Workshop participants had to think about possibly writing from the point of view of a housefly, of a dead woman, using different structures, and we did, with many of us producing stellar work.

For our assignment, Dave told us to pick a newspaper story and write a fictional story out of it. It was particularly boring as none of the stories seemingly had good material. We spun gold out of the ordinary thread after which we took the practical road to ‘editing’.

How To Edit Your Story: Tips From The Writing Workshop With Dave Eggers.

• Never use so/then.
• Do not put a semicolon in dialogue.
• Analyze your story sentence by sentence and remove words that don’t do anything for the sentence.
• Don’t overdo the dialogue tags.
• Show more than you tell.

We were encouraged to share our work and until today, a quote rings in my head every time I think of holding back: “You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.”

The quote may be overused but it is no less important.

Other Interesting Extracurricular Activities We Participated In During The Writing Workshop.

It is crucial to note that we were not just props sitting in class, and trudging back to our rooms at the end of the day.

In the middle of the unending work, we found time to watch movies together in J’s room, have a dance party, go on long walks as a group during which I had a soul-moving talk with T.

We took our time to grow as writers as well as individuals as well as Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Trust Students.

Also, we spent nights staring at the sky, sitting in the bar downstairs discussing ourselves, peeling open wounds that had been long forgotten, and left buried under a bandage.

We talked and laughed and selfied among ourselves. Each day of those ten days is well documented.

The Final Days Of The Writers Workshop.

All too soon, it was the tenth day. We would spend the day getting ready, making ourselves up and stuffing beautiful outfits, shoes, and gorgeous makeup into the gaping holes our oncoming departure would leave within us.

At the oriental hotel, I floated through the day. It was finally the day we would have our long-awaited selfies with Chimamanda who had to travel and couldn’t make it on our previously scheduled date.

One by one, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, with our certificates in hand, called our names. And one after the other we climbed onto the stage, to hear her say the things about us that she had liked best, things we had thought she would have forgotten.

Not Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; She had a sharp memory and remembered the most important things about each one of us, gave us words we each held to our chests, and as we went back to our hotel, one sentence played over in my mind which she had said at a point during the writing workshop, “I can’t wait to read your books.”

Author’s Bio:

Simbiat Haroun lives in her head and when she is not writing, she is silently watching, thinking about what next she will turn into a story. She is a graduate of Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Trust Workshop.

We’ll be publishing more feature stories from other writers. Keep visiting CWN. Or better still, subscribe for our newsletter and you’ll get updates right in your inbox.

Want to write for us? Great! Read the submissions guidelines on our Write for Us Page

The post Writing Workshop With Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Learning To Write Like A Nobel Laureate At The Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop. appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Society for Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN) is proud to announce its Virtual Creative Writing Workshop for young female writers.  

The aim of the SBMEN Creative Writing Workshop For Women  is to:

• enhance the skills and talent of female writers;
• explore the literary works of inspiring female writers
• and provide a platform for female writers to creatively express themselves.

No enrollment fee or application fee is required is required.

Eligibility Guidelines and Target Audience for the SBMEN Creative Writing Workshop For Women

They are interested in enrolling 20 female writers who are willing to hone their craft.

You can apply:

• If you’re female.
• If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30 years,
• If you write fiction, non-fiction, and cover culture journalism and new media.
• If you’ll be available to participate in the literary workshop.
• There are no geographical restrictions.

Everything You Need To Know About The SBMEN Women’s Creative Writing Workshop.

The workshop will hold over four days from Monday 23 November to 26 November 2020.

It will consist of several sessions with the facilitators online. The workshop will be delivered through:

• discussions,
• writing exercises,
• and guided readings.

The last session will be the guest session with an accomplished writer or publisher from Africa.

Submission Guidelines for the SBMEN Writing Workshop 

To qualify to join the workshop:

• Submit an unpublished 1000-word flash fiction or nonfiction piece for consideration.
• Submission deadline is Saturday 7 November 2020.
• Successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday 11 November 2020

Submission Guidelines For The SBMEN Women’s Creative Writing Workshop:

• Please send the following materials in a MS WORD document to womenwriting@sbmen.org.ng.
•  Ensure that the subject head is: Workshop Writing Submission:
• Your writing sample should be an unpublished work in fiction and nonfiction, but not children’s fiction. 
• Include at the top of the Word document your name, contact address, email and phone number.
• Manuscript Formatting Guidelines: Times New Roman size 12 font, black, 2.0 spacing.
• Include a biography of not more than 100 words.
• Include a 200-word personal statement on why you want to participate in this workshop.

Facilitators for the SBMEN Women’s Creative Writing Workshop.

• Dzekashu Macviban, writer and publisher of the award-winning magazine, Bakwa and Bakwa Books from Cameroon.
• Zukiswa Wanner, award winning novelist, journalist and editor from South Africa
• Enajite Efemuaye, writer and managing editor of Farafina books from Lagos.

Awards for Writers Who Participate In This Creative Writing Workshop:

Participants will be awarded:

• a “Certificate of Attendance” after the writing workshop.
• Also, next year, they will receive a free published “SBMEN Writer’s Handbook” a culmination of the workshop courses that will contain lessons and exercises to help with their continuous education to improve their writing.

This workshop is supported by Ford Foundation.

To increase your chances of getting into this highly selective workshop,

• read some interesting short stories online. We reviewed some by Howard Maximus, Simbiat Haroun , Nneka Lesley Arimah , Helon Habila and Others.
• Learn how to write a short story that publishers can’t reject.
• Get inspired by the amazing stories in these recommended podcasts for storytellers.
• Write eloquently.
• Give it your best.

The post SBMEN’s 2020 Creative Writing Workshop For Women Is Supported By Ford Foundation / How To Apply appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Book Title: Mmirinzo

Author: Achalugo Chioma Ezekobe

Length: 283

Genre: African Speculative Fiction

Publisher/ Year: Winepress/ 2020

Source: Got a copy from a friend

Reviewed by: Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí

Mmirinzo by Achalugo begins simply. Olivia will be twenty-eight in a few months. She has bucket lists to tick before her twenty-eight birthday, and her younger sister, Nwanneka’s wedding, is just around the corner.

Things are going well until she starts dropping unconscious anytime she sees moving water, and her very fantastical dreams keep getting intense. The fainting and the dreams become so serious that she realizes she needs answers.

That sets us up for an interesting novel, one that would be difficult to put down. And, yes, Achalugo does not disappoint. Her writing is fast-paced enough. 

However, the strength of this novel lies in how it juxtaposes – like a juggler juggling two oranges, to borrow an analogy from Robert Louis Stevenson – the plain ordinary and the intense magical, without focusing on one at the detriment of the other. Or we might say: To the writer, Mmirinzo isn’t a work of speculative fiction; it is a work of realism. This is because, while this might read to a foreigner (by this I mean, a person not familiar with Igbo metaphysics) as speculative fiction, to a person who is familiar with Igbo worldview and spirituality, this is a realistic work.

Olivia, like the reader, wants answers and she seeks it. Thankfully, she finds answers. However, while finding answers, her relationship with Sir Leo, a colleague, begins to blossom. (Again, the power of Achalugo to balance the ordinary and the magical.) In Olivia’s quest for answers, she has to go back to the village where she must perform some rites and be initiated.

Here is where I must give Achalugo her due as a brilliant, brilliant writer. She unveils the rites of the initiation and the whole process, showing the reader everything it entails in clear prose, so that the reader, like Olivia (who is almost like the reader in every sense), might make their decision about what is being done.

How do I mean?

Turn on your TV and tune in to African Magic Igbo. Almost all the movies you’ll be shown portrays Igbo Spirituality as demonic and show the priests as bloodthirsty and human-flesh-hungry people. However, Achalugo shows us that this is very untrue. That Igbo priests and those who accept the calling of Chukwu, which she writes that each individual chose in the premortal world, are not in anyway bloodthirsty or human-flesh-hungry. 

As Onyeka Nwelue wrote in his blurb, reading Achalugo is like “listening to an old woman tell stories.”

“You are not being forced against your will…, yours is a predestined choice, it is what you chose when you stood between the place Chukwu carves us and the wall to the birth canal of your mother.”

“Yes. Just before we are born, we say what we are going to earth to be or do.”

In Mmirinzo by Achalugo, we meet a whole cast of characters who have accepted their callings and are doing what they promised to do in the premortal world, as well as living their normal, every day life.

There is Amaoge, a young, energetic woman who works in Lagos and follows Odinani; Eloka, a priest who lives with his family and works in Abuja; Aunty Afulenu, Olivia’s guide, who is a teacher and an Mmirinzo; and Nosakhare, who runs a corporate business of rain holders and makers. Will Olivia join the list?

By showing these characters who have their normal lives and who still perform their callings, Achalugo adds another one to the two balls she was juggling: defence. She deftly makes a defence for the Igbo (can I say African?) Spirituality, without pushing it. This, in fact, is where her power lies, and, yes, this makes her a writer to watch carefully. She possesses wisdom. As Onyeka Nwelue wrote in his blurb, reading Achalugo is like “listening to an old woman tell stories.”

“Everything you need is primarily in you, for the rest, you can move around with what you need. I set up a place for my Chi where I stay the most, and even at that, I believe I can commune with my Creator, ancestral and guiding spirits, anywhere and anytime.”

Olivia struggled with comprehension.

“Where is God?” Eloka asked.

“Everywhere,” Olivia answered.

“It is there you have your answers.”

She nodded and asked again, “Why did this mmirinzo thing, come to only me? Will it come to my siblings later?”

“I strongly doubt.”

“But we are siblings.”

“That is not enough, ofu nne na amu, ofu chi adighi eke. You can find siblings from the same mother and father and far in behaviour or destinies from one another.”

There is wisdom in Mmirinzo by Achalugo

One thing I also really liked about this book is how Achalugo portrayed Leonard. We meet a guy who doesn’t take the consent of a drunk lady to be consent, because she is drunk. That was a brilliant portrayal, I must say, for, in a way, it is opening up room for conversation about consent.

This novel made me think of Chigozie Obioma‘s most recent novel, An Orchestra of Minorities.

While there are some minor punctuation errors, Mmirinzo is an important contribution to the African speculative fiction canon, especially those that engage with the Igbo worldview. This novel made me think of Chigozie Obioma‘s most recent novel, An Orchestra of Minorities. While Mmirinzo does not have the range of Chigozie Obioma’s book, it comes close in its case for the relevance of the Igbo worldview. 

Mmirinzo by Achalugo is an important debut.

The post Juggling Three Balls: A Review of Mmirinzo by Achalugo appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Today, 1 August, 2020, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola has won the 2020 K & L Prize. The prize has been awarded to Kanyinsola Olorunnisola for his afrofuturist story, “Abija: The Architect of Mayhem”.  His short story was selected from a longlist of ten writers, which included writers from Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria, and from a shortlist of three. 

The other shortlisted writers are: Audrey Obuobisa-Darko, Izuchukwu Udowku, and Yvonne Nezianye. 

Kanyinsola Olorunnisola’s short story was chosen by Arthur Chigbo Anyaduba and Dione Joseph, both of whom were the judges for the prize this year.

About the K & L Prize

The K & L Prize is sponsored by Myles Ojabo and is worth $1000 in cash prize. It is open to writers who are between the ages of 18 and 25. The longlisted stories are published in an annual anthology. 

For 2020, they called for submissions on the theme of Afrofuturism. This year, the longlisted stories will appear in the anthology, Black Skin, No Mask. 

In 2019, Sisca Julius won the prize for her story, “Honey Bee”.

Reacting to His Win

Kanyinsola, who is well-known for his poems and brilliant essays, considers this win a very immense blessing; it is the first time he is getting recognised for his short story. 

“I have struggled with getting some recognition for my fiction, no matter how hard I worked at perfecting it. It’s a blessing to say I won a continental prize for fiction,” he said.

About Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. He was born and raised in Ibadan, a historic city in the south-west of Nigeria.

He is the founder of SprinNG, a literary movement dedicated to amplifying the voices and nurturing the talents of young Nigerian writers while providing them opportunities for growth and recognition. 

His experimental works have appeared on platforms such as Popula, Gertrude, Brittle Paper, The Account, On the Sea Wall, Bird’s Thumb, Kalahari Review, Bombay Review, Lunaris Review, African Writer, Tuck Magazine, Gyroscope Review, Parousia Magazine and Sampad International Anthology.

Congratulations to Kanyinsola! We can’t wait to read his story and the other amazing works that will be published in the anthology, Black Skin, No Mask!

You can also check out this article on how to write speculative fiction, and our recommended short stories.

The post Nigerian Writer, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola, Has Won the 2020 K & L Prize appeared first on Creative Writing News.

An epic fantasy novel that weaves Grecian myths, Yoruba myths, and Kikuyu folklore, Scarlet has been optioned for adaptation into a feature-length film by Sobe Charles Umeh of 1st Rate Pictures. Sobe Charles Umeh is an award-winning Canada-based Nollywood director and producer.

Scarlet is Alexander Emmanuel’s third novel. It was launched at the Benue Book and Arts Festival in June 2019. In February 2020, it won the BookHouse Readers’ Choice Award. The book, which is a weaving of history and folklore and Afrofuturism, will definitely be a delight on the screen.

About the Author

Alexander Emmanuel is an Air Force Officer and academic who developed his writing skill after secondary school and successfully made a debut with The Diary of a Boy Soldier, a novella on the account of the lead character’s experience during his training at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria. He is currently a researcher at the Rivers State University and is a celebrated writer, both locally and internationally.

Congratulations to Alexander. We really can’t wait to see this magic!

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The shortlisted writers for the Caine Prize 2020 has been announced today, the 19th of May, 2020. The shortlist of five includes three Nigerians, a Tanzanian, and a Rwandan; a Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlistee, an Etisalat Prize winner, a winner of the Betty Trask Prize, and a writer who has previously been shortlisted for the Caine Prize. The shortlist was selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp, and including the Kenyan blogger James Murua. 

Of the shortlist this year, the chair Kenneth Olumuyiwa Thorpe writes:

“These brilliant and surprising stories are beautifully crafted, yet they are all completely different from one another. From satire and biting humour, to fiction based on non-fiction, with themes spanning political shenanigans, outcast communities, superstition and social status, loss, and enduring love. Each of these shortlisted stories speak eloquently to the human condition, and to what it is to be an African, or person of African descent, at the start of the second decade of the 21st century.

“Together, this year’s shortlisted stories signal that African literature is in robust health, and, as demonstrated by the titles alone, never predictable.”

The shortlist:

• Erica Sugo Anyadike (Tanzania) for ‘How to Marry An African President’ published in adda: Commonwealth Stories (2019) (Read my review of this story here).
• Chikodili Emelumadu (Nigeria & UK) for ‘What to do when your child brings home a Mami Wata’ published in The Shadow Booth: Vol.2 (2018)
• Jowhor Ile (Nigeria) for ‘Fisherman’s Stew’, published in The Sewanee Review (2019)
• Rémy Ngamije (Rwanda & Namibia) for ‘The Neighbourhood Watch’, published in The Johannesburg Review of Books (2019)
• Irenosen Okojie (Nigeria & UK) for ‘Grace Jones’ from “Nudibranch”, published by Hachette (2019)

The winner will receive £10,000, and the shortlisted writers will receive £500. Congratulations to the shortlisted writers. 

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Author of the micro-chap “Calling Out Grief” (Ghost City Press, 2019) and a final year undergraduate student of English and Literature at the University of Benin – Michael Akuchie wins the Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award for 2019 – 2020 for his poetry manuscript, Wreck. 

“Wreck features sharp language and images and a reaching towards God that filled me with wonder and spiritual fulfillment. The poems are excellently crafted and each one sings.” – José Olivarez.

Michael Akuchie’s Wreck was selected by the poet José Olivarez,  author of Citizen Illegal and a recipient of the 2019 Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. On Akuchie’s manuscript, José Olivarez writes: “Wreck features sharp language and images and a reaching towards God that filled me with wonder and spiritual fulfillment. The poems are excellently crafted and each one sings.” 

Congratulations to Michael Akuchie; we can’t wait to read this book.

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Lis Anna-Langston from South Carolina wins the 2020 Independent Press Award in the Best New Fiction category for her book Tupelo Honey. 

A young adult novel, Tupelo Honey, is set in rural Mississippi and follows the life of the eponymous character, Tupelo Honey, and her “pretty dysfunctional family”. From a mother who is a drug addict, characters with mental illness, to “a cast of southerners” – Lis Anna-Langston has “written rich, vivid characters and painted a vibrant mosaic of a year in one young southern girl’s life.” Lis Anna-Langston is a “loveable, engaging, original voice” (Publishers Weekly).

The South Carolina author of Tupelo Honey won from a longlist of submissions from countries including Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, India, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden. According to Gabrielle Olczak, awards sponsor:

“We are thrilled to announce the winners and distinguished favorites in our annual 2020 INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD.  This year included a myriad of excellent independently published books. It is clear that independents are prospering in every corner of the earth.  We are so proud to be highlighting key titles representing global independent publishing.” 

Congratulations to Lis Anna-Langston. We hope this brings her more readers.

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Today, the 14th of May, 2020, the Society of Authors announced the shortlists in five awards categories: Betty Trask, McKitterick, ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Awards, the Paul Torday Memorial Prize, and the inaugural Queen’s Knickers Award. The awards fund, which is to be shared among the winners in each category, is £100,000.

The shortlist of 29 writers has been described as “wide-ranging”, as it includes Lynda Clark, winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018 and author of Beyond Kidding; Taffy Brodesser-Akner, New York Times Magazine Staff Writer and author of Fleishman is in Trouble; Sally Gardner, Costa and Carnegie Medal-winning author of Maggot Moon; Ani Kayode Somtochukwu, Nigerian poet, biology student and activist; Okechukwu Nzelu, the British-Nigerian author of the Desmond Elliot Prize-longlisted The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney. 

Below is the shortlist in each category:

• The Queen’s Knickers Award (inaugural year):
  • Umbrella written and illustrated by Elena Arevalo Melville.
  • Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Sea Dragon written by Sally Gardner, illustrated by Nick Maland.
  • How to Light Your Dragon written by Didier Lévy, illustrated by Fred Benaglia.
  • One Fox written and illustrated by Kate Read.
  • Child of St Kilda written and illustrated by Beth Waters.
• The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award:
  • Ghillie’s Mum by Lynda Clark.
  • High Water by Carol Farrelly.
  • The Bird That Fluttered Free by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu.
  • Whale Watching by Diana Powell.
  • Eva at the End of the World by Wendy Riley.
  • The Pier at Ardentinny by Catriona Ward.
• Betty Trask Prize and Awards:
  • The Familiars by Stacey Halls.
  • The Parisian by Isabella Hammad.
  • Hitch by Kathryn Hind.
  • The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu.
• McKitterick Prize:
  • Golden Child by Claire Adam.
  • Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston.
  • Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
  • The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins.
  • Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession.
  • The Travelers by Regina Porter.
• Paul Torday Memorial Prize:
  • The Burning Land by George Alagiah.
  • Madeleine by Euan Cameron.
  • Reparation by Gaby Koppel.
  • Find Me Falling by Fiona Vigo Marshall.
  • As the Women Lay Dreaming by Donald S Murray.
  • The Stranger She Knew by Rosalind Stopps.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers. The winners of the Society of Authors Awards will be announced on the 18th of June, 2020. We are rooting for Ani Kayode Somtochukwu and Okechukwu Nzelu. 

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