In commemoration of the memory of Princewill Nnaemeka Okigbo, Friends of Okigbo presents the maiden edition of Okigbo Nnaemeka Prize for Short Story. Okigbo was a literary genius. That, and such reasons as his love for literature and the unnatural zeal to be of invaluable help, is why N50, 000 is up for grabs.
Theme
The theme is not about death, about being cut down before one blossoms or grief (Princewill Okigbo is more than that). The theme is about life, about Princewill Okigbo’s Life –being a man wholly invested in the feelings and well being of people around him. He was an emotional bulwark for everyone who knew him. He always reached out to people in distress, to the depressed, and he always made sure to bring everyone around him into a close-knit group. He was an organizer of the soul, the man that made everyone’s social problem his own. Okigbo’s spirit is that of community, of family, of integration, of love, of complimentarity, of collaboration, of social awareness for the good of all.
The theme therefore is that of “reaching out”, “of touch“. of how our “actions and in actions” affect the life of others albeit negative or positive.
The entries must accommodate all or most of these themes. The stories must give different perspectives of the concept of touch (not physical touch), social integration and family either through the characters (one of which must have a community spirit) or through different entities peculiar to their style or story. Further information regarding the stories will come in the submission guidelines below.
The winning entries will be announced in Owerri on the 18th October 2019 (Okigbo’s birthday) at an event, “An Evening for Okigbo”–an evening of talks, poetry, drama, music, art and science exhibitions to be organized in conjunction with Ngiga Book Club. Winners will go home with cash prizes totalling N50,000 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions as well as a certificate of participation. Winning entries will also be published subsequently on Ngiga.
Timeline for Submissions
June 5: Call for Submissions
June 25: Announcement of judges
August 1: Submission ends
September 10: Shortlist announced
October 18: Announcement of winner and runners-up
Submission Guidelines
- Your story must touch the relevant themes as elaborated above
- Entries must be an original work of the author and must not have been published elsewhere.
- Entries must be between 1500-3000 words max.
- Entries must be formatted using 12point Times New Roman and each new paragraph must be clearly indented.
- The document type should be doc, docx or PDF.
- The document must be saved with the title of the story followed by the writer’s name. Eg: “Broken – Somadina Adebayo”.
- The name of the writer must not appear anywhere within the document. The document itself should contain only the title and the story.
- Entries must be sent to: https://forms.gle/oQg96G9CpxpGg1Hk7
- All relevant boxes in the submissions form must be filled.
Be informed that entries that do not adhere to these guidelines stand a chance of being disqualified.
Submissions deadline is midnight August 1st, 2019.
Enquiries should be directed to: 08168936586, 07036173774. Or email: okigbonnaemekaprize@gmail.com
REFERENCE
Ngiga Review
