Breakout Nigerian star Cheluchi Onyemelukwe is among twelve writers longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

First awarded in 1994, the annual award is named after late literary editor Doris Giller at the bequest of her husband Jack Rabinovitch. The prize aims to reward the best Canadian fiction for the year under review. At $100,000, it is one of the top literary prizes in Canada.

The Son of the House, Onyemelukwe’s debut, follows two Nigerian women of contrasting classes and social standing and how their lives intersect when they are both kidnapped, held captive and forced to await their fate together. It is arguably one of the most successful debuts in recent history, earning considerable acclaim and a range of awards including the Best International Fiction Book Award category for at the 2019 Sharjah International Book Fair in Dubai, the inaugural SprinNG Women Authors Prize, and currently on the shortlist of the $100,000 Nigerian Prize for Literature.

The shortlist will be announced on Oct. 5, 2021 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 8, 2021.

See the full longlist here.

Congratulations to Cheluchi Onyemelukwe!