Akunna James-Ibe has won the 2022 Awele Creative Trust Short Story Award.

The Awele Creative Trust Short Story Award is an annual award for a short story by a Nigerian writer between the ages of 16 and 26. Founded by Chika Unigwe, Awele Creative Trust is a non-profit organization with the aim of supporting literary creativity and boost literary productivity in Nigeria.

James-Ibe, a writer from Imo State in Nigeria, won the 2022 award with her short story titled “Ndubuisi that is set in a dystopian future where oxygen is a luxury.

The judges chose James-Ibe’s work as the winning story for its “accessible, precise prose.” They add:

James-Ibe gives us a compelling, heartbreaking story in which a protagonist who’s lost almost everything else must make a choice between his dignity and his life.

James-Ibe is also medical doctor, in addition to being a writer. Her work has been published in both physical and online magazines such as Ebedi Review and Writers Space Africa.

Congrats to James-Ibe on the well-deserved win!