Memory and the Call of Water by Su’eddie Vershima Agema, Nomad by Romeo Oriogun and Your Crib, My Qibla by Saddiq Dzukogi have been shortlisted as finalists for the 2022 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Literature.
Chair of the advisory board for the prize Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo announced the shortlisted books in a live broadcast on Friday.
Other members of the Advisory Board are Professor Olu Obafemi and Professor Ahmed Yerima.
The finalists were selected out of a longlist of 11 announced recently by the board.
Sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), the literature prize comes with a cash award of $100,000.
Two hundred and eighty-seven books were entered for the 2022 competition, which focuses on poetry.
The panel of judges is chaired by Sule Emmanuel Egya, a professor of African Literature and Cultural Studies at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State.
Other judges are Toyin Adewale-Gabriel and Dike Chukwumerije.
Adewale-Gabriel is a poet and fiction writer. Dike Chukwumerije is a spoken word and performance poet, and an award-winning author.
The judges will decide on the outcome, which will be announced by the advisory board on October 14.
The board will also announce the verdict on the 2022 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly amongst four literary categories – prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature.
