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Iroko
Productions
Announces
the
short
listed
Candidates
for
the
1st
Olaudah
Equiano
Prize
for
fiction |
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Bay
Shore,
NY -
December
19,
2005
-
Iroko
productions
today
announces
the
following
as
short
listed
candidates
for
the
1st
Olaudah
Equiano
$1000
Prize
for
Fiction:
1.)
Chielozona
Eze
for
his
story
"Lessons
in
German".
2.)
Anietie
Isong
for
"How
Great
Thou
Art"
3.)
Chika
Unigwe
for
"Confetti,
Glitter
and
Ash"
4.)
Nnedi
Okorafor-Mbachu
for
"How
Inyang
Got
Her
Wings"
5.)
Chibo
Onyeji
for
"The
Professor."
The
winner
will
be
announced
on
Friday,
December
23,
2005.
Olaudah
Equiano
Prize
for
Fiction
is
an
annual
prize
open
to
Africans
living
abroad.
The
first
prize
of
$1000
is
awarded
to
an
original
and
unpublished
short
story
between
3000
and
10000
words
that
centers
on
the
experience
of
Africans
living
abroad.
The
second
prize
of
$300
is
endowed
by
Dr.
Chuma
Osakwe
in
the
name
of
his
late
father,
Chief
S.
B. C
Osakwe.
A
third
prize
of
$100
is
also
awarded.
All
stories
will
be
considered
for
publication
in
an
anthology
devoted
to
new
voices
of
Africans
abroad.
The
judges
for
this
year's
competition
are
Okey
Ndibe,
Wale
Adebanwi
and
Obiwu.
Okey
Ndibe
is
an
Associate
Professor
of
Literature
and
Languages,
Simon's
Rock
College
of
Bard,
Great
Barrington,
Massachusetts.
The
author
of
Arrows
of
Rain,
Ndibe
is
also
a
columnist
for
Nigeria's
Guardian
newspaper.
Wale
Adebanwi,
until
recently,
a
lecturer
in
Political
Science
(University
of
Ibadan),
is
currently
a
Bill
and
Melinda
Gates
Scholar
at
Cambridge
University,
England.
He
is a
writer
and
literary
critic.
Obiwu
is
the
Director
of
The
Writing
Center,
Central
State
University,
Wilberforce,
Ohio.
A
poet
and
scholar,
he
is
the
author
of
Igbos
of
Northern
Nigeria,
editor
of a
forthcoming
anthology
on
Biafran
memories,
and
is
at
work
on a
critical
exploration
of
Chinua
Achebe's
poetry.
In
inaugurating
the
Olaudah
Equiano
Prize,
Rudolf
Okonkwo,
the
CEO
of
Iroko
productions,
noted
that
"as
more
and
more
Africans
immigrate,
Africa
loses
some
of
its
finest
minds.
While
abroad,
the
struggle
for
survival
often
overshadows
the
utilization
of
the
potentials
in
these
Africans.
Their
talents
and
expected
contributions
to
humanity
suffer
as a
consequence.
This
competition
is a
little
effort
aimed
at
encouraging
talented
Africans
abroad
to
revisit
their
gifts,
reconnect
with
their
dreams
and
reassert
their
unique
place
in
literary
world."
The
prize
is
named
after
Olaudah
Equiano
who
in
1789
published
"Interesting
Narrative
of
Olaudah
Equiano
or
Gustavus
Vassa
the
African."
It
became
a
popular
best
seller
and
had
a
great
impact
on
the
struggle
to
abolish
the
slave
trade.
Equiano's
book,
which
is
still
widely
read
around
the
world,
helped
popularize
a
new
literary
genre
known
as
slave
narratives.
Iroko
Productions
named
the
prize
after
Olaudah
Equiano
to
underscore
that
"the
struggle,
survival,
and
success
of
Equiano
exemplified
the
best
of
Africa
in
the
Diaspora."
Believing
that
African
geniuses
are
here
with
us,
Mr.
Okonkwo
remarked
that
"Iroko
Productions
is
committed
to
the
search
for
these
gems.
When
we
find
them,
we
intend
to
nurture
and
celebrate
them.
We
believe
that
the
continuing
production
and
dissemination
of
African
masterpieces
depend
on
our
ability
to
identify,
promote
and
preserve
the
African
geniuses
at
home
and
abroad."
This
year's
competition
received
numerous
entries
from
Europe,
North
America
and
Asia.
Some
of
the
entries
are
being
considered
for
inclusion
in
an
anthology
to
be
published
by
Iroko
Productions.
"We
aspire
to
give
greater
audience
to
established
African
talents",
Okonkwo
said
from
his
base
in
Bay
Shore,
New
York.
"We
also
hope
to
beam
a
bright
light
on
those
previously
unrecognized."
Next
year's
competition,
he
said,
would
be
handled
by a
foundation,
Iroko
Foundation.
The
foundation
plans
to
establish
prizes
for
non-fiction,
screenplays
as
well
as
paintings.
Among
the
five
short
listed
candidates
are
established
as
well
as
emerging
writers.
Chielozona
Eze
grew
up
in
Enugu,
Nigeria.
He
graduated
from
Purdue
University
in
December
2003.
2004/2005,
he
was
a
postdoctoral
fellow
at
the
University
of
California,
at
Los
Angeles.
He
is
currently
assistant
professor
of
Postcolonial
and
Anglophone
African
Literature
at
Northeastern
Illinois
University,
Chicago.
Anietie
Isong
was
born
in
Nigeria.
He
presently
lives
in
Leicester,
England.
In
2000,
he
was
one
of
the
winners
in
the
Commonwealth
Short
Story
Awards.
Chika
Unigwe
lives
in
Turnhout,
Belgium.
She
holds
a
PhD
in
literature
from
the
University
of
Leiden
in
Holland.
Her
literary
awards
include
a
BBC
short
story
award,
a
Commonwealth
short
story
award
and
the
2004
Caine
Prize
shortlist.
Her
stories
have
appeared
in
Wasafiri,
Moving
World,
Voices
and
in
several
online
journals
and
anthologies.
She
has
two
children's
books
published
by
Macmillan
London
and
De
Feniks,
her
debut
novel
has
just
been
published
by
Manteau
of
Antwerpen
and
Meulenhoff
of
Amsterdam.
Nnedi
Okorafor-Mbachu's
first
novel,
Zahrah
the
Windseeker
(Houghton
Mifflin),
was
published
in
September
2005.
Her
second
novel,
Ejii
the
Shadow
Speaker
will
be
published
by
Hyperion
Books
for
Children
in
2007.
Her
short
story,
When
Scarabs
Multiply,
was
published
in
So
Long
Been
Dreaming:Postcolonial
Science
Fiction
and
Fantasy
(edited
by
Nalo
Hopkinson).
Okorafor-Mbachu's
short
story,
Biafra
is
the
winner
of
the
2nd
Annual
Margin:
Exploring
Modern
Magical
Realism
Short
Story
Contest
(2005).
Her
short
story,
The
Awakening,
was
2003's
winner
of
the
Chicago
Bar
Association
Goodnow
Entertainment
Award.
Long
Juju
Man,
a
short
story,
was
published
in
Alchemy
Magazine
(edited
by
Steve
Pasechnick,
published
by
Edgewood
Press).
Chibo
Onyeji
is
an
Austrian
based
Nigerian
writer
and
critic.
His
poetry
books
include
the
bilingual
anthology,
Nsibiri
(2001),
in
Igbo
with
German
translation,
and
Polite
Questions
and
Other
Poems
(1998).
His
poetry
anthology,
Flowers,
Bread
and
Gold
is
planned
for
publication
in
2006.
According
to
Obiwu,
the
Chairman
of
the
Judges,
"the
strength
and
diversity
of
this
year's
entry
is
an
indication
that
African
literature
is
alive
all
over
the
globe."
The
Olaudah
Equiano
Prize
is
supported
by
United
African
Artists,
www.UnitedAfricanArtists.com
producers
of
the
movie,
THIS
AMERICA,
Ehimen
Edokpa
of
IBG
Tax
&
Accounting
LLC,
www.ibgtax.com,
Ik
Anunike
of
Lord's
Wish
Transportation
and
Angel
of
Teamprophoto.net.
Contact
Information:
Rudolf
Ogoo
Okonkwo
rudolf@irokoproductions.com
617-697-1733
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