The 2019 Awele Creative Trust Award is open for entries. Founded in 2013 by the NLNG Prize-winning novelist Chika Unigwe, as an initiative of her Awele Creative Trust, the Short Story Award recognizes the best unpublished fiction by a writer living in Nigeria, irrespective of nationality, and between the ages of 16 and 26. Previous winners include Caleb Adebayo for 2014, Nneoma Ike Njoku for 2015, Caleb Somtochukwu Okereke and Anthony Ezekwoh for 2016, and Imade Iyamu for 2017. The cash prize for 2019 will exceed the usual N50,000 ($138).

Submission Guidelines

  • Previously published work is not eligible for the ACT award
  • Only one story per author will be considered
  • Only fictional work is eligible
  • Works must be between 2,500 and 5,000 words
  • Submissions should include a cover note with the name, date of birth, e-mail address and telephone number of the author
  • Submissions should be made by e-mail only to [email protected]
  • Works translated into English from any Nigerian languages are eligible. Should such a work win, N20,000 of the prize money will go to the translator.

Deadline for submissions: 1 December 2019.

For more information, email [email protected].