The Witsprouts Project, a cultural organization dedicated to fostering a deeper engagement in African arts and culture, has announced the inaugural edition of the Witsprouts Storytelling Prize, a contest designed to revive oral storytelling art form while celebrating and rewarding exceptional storytelling talent.

The Witsprouts Storytelling Prize is open to Nigerian (home or in the diaspora) storytellers, performers, and creatives. The contest offers a cash prize of N500,000 and a platform to share original work.

Speaking on the storytelling prize, Tope Akintayo, Director of The Witsprouts Project, lamented the decline of the oral storytelling art form and emphasized the need to preserve oral storytelling traditions in a press release:

Oral Storytelling is fast becoming a forgotten art in today’s fast-paced world. We grew up with “tales by moonlight” (stories of how generations before us used to enjoy the ambience of listening to a good story, usually told by a community or household elder). Now, we only live on the fragments of such memories…With the Storytelling prize, we aim to bring back the culture and beauty of storytelling inspiring a new generation of storytellers and story lovers across the world.

Submission Guidelines

Theme: Rebooting Legends and Memories

Submissions Close: May 31, 2025

For 2025, only Nigerian storytellers (home or in the diaspora) are eligible.

  1. Create a 5–10 minute video of you narrating a story based on the theme in the most captivating way possible. Your entry must be an original theatrical piece, showcasing voice modulation, facial expressions, gestures, choreography, music, and other creative elements.
  2. Upload the video to your Instagram profile and tag @witsproutsorg and @witsprouts as collaborators.
  3. Use the hashtag #WitsproutsStorytellingPrize in your caption.
  4. Follow both @witsprouts and @witsproutsorg to be eligible.

For more information about the Witsprouts Storytelling Prize, contact prize@witsprouts.org.