The Future Awards Africa (TFAA) has unveiled the nominees for its 20th edition, and four Nigerian writers made the shortlist for the Literature category: Damilare Kuku, Fatima Bala, Eloghosa Osunde, and Peter Okonkwo. Themed “Celebrating the Redefiners: Africa’s AI Generation,” the milestone edition spans 26 categories, from technology and entrepreneurship to music, film, sports, and the arts. The ceremony is expected in November at the Balmoral Events Centre in Lagos, with a first-of-its-kind line-up of five hosts from five African countries.

Brittle Paper readers will know the writers on this list. Damilare Kuku is the bestselling author of Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad and Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow, and she has been a fixture on our feeds for her style as much as her fiction. Fatima Bala, the author of Broken: Not a Halal Love Story and Hafsatu Bebi, recently released her third book, the story collection The Lies We Tell, which launched to sold-out events in Abuja and Lagos. Eloghosa Osunde, whose genre-defying Vagabonds! landed on our list of anticipated African books of 2022, also made headlines when she wrote a poetic monologue for the Victoria’s Secret World Tour launch, read by Naomi Campbell. Rounding out the list is poet Peter Okonkwo, founder of P. English Literature and author of several poetry collections, including Escape from the Unseen Dungeons: A Cry for Mercy.

Often described as “Africa’s Nobel Prize for Young People,” TFAA celebrates young Africans aged 18 to 35 whose work reflects excellence, innovation, leadership, and impact. Past winners include Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, and Tems. The awards were conceived by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams and are presented by The Future Project, and the first edition took place in 2006. Ayodeji Razaq is the current Executive Director. Nominees will be assessed through a selection process supported by a Jury and an Independent Audit Committee, which TFAA says is meant to uphold fairness, credibility, and integrity. For winners, the prize brings national and continental visibility and a place in an alumni network that includes some of Africa’s biggest names.

In a related development, writer Somto Ihezue says he was also nominated in the Literature category but has declined. In a Bluesky post on October 23, Ihezue said he had just learned that the award hopes to celebrate writers who use AI in their storytelling, “a fact I wasn’t made aware of, until now.” He said he has emailed the organizers to decline the nomination and to remove his name, image, and bio from their platform. Ihezue’s name does not appear on the published nominee list. Brittle Paper has not independently confirmed the details, and TFAA has not publicly commented on the matter at the time of publication.

Congratulations to all the nominees. The winners will be announced at the ceremony in November, and we’ll keep you posted as the date approaches.