Chiziterem Chijioke Wins the Quramo Writers’ Prize 2023
The Quramo Writers’ Prize unveils its first female winner, Chiziterem Chijioke.
The Quramo Writers’ Prize is organized by Quramo Publishing and is famous for its one million naira cash prize award and book publishing deal. It is hosted yearly for authors with unpublished manuscripts across Africa to submit fiction prose manuscripts with a minimum word count of 30,000.
Every year the winner of the prize is revealed during the annual literary festival called Quramo Festival of Words (QFest). In preparation for the festival, the longlisted and shortlisted entries were released in August and October, respectively.
This year’s QFest 2023 ran from Wednesday, 4th of October to Sunday, 8th of October, with a variety of activities ranging from workshops to book discussions, panel sessions and finally, the announcement of the winner.
A panel made up of three judges, Lechi Eke, Anote Ajeluorou and Dr Eghosa Imasuen, unveiled the winner after excerpts and citations of the top five shortlisted entries were read out.
The shortlisted writers included:
- Mujahid Ameen Lilo
- Chiziterem Chijioke
- David Vera Sorochi
- Zainab U. Imam
- and finally, Truth Bakare
The five authors participated in a panel discussion on their respective books during Qfest 2023, which was an opportunity for the attendees to learn more about the entries.
On 8th October, 2023 the winners were announced, beginning with the third place, Landscape of Loss by Mujahid Ameen Lilo. Summer Bloom by Truth Bakare came second.
Dear Zimi by Chiziterem Chijioke was awarded the winner of the seventh edition of the Quramo Writers Prize, making her the first female winner since its inception.
According to a post on her Instagram page, the winning story, Dear Zimi is a story about a pregnant undergraduate and how she navigates the changes in her life following her circumstances.
About Chiziterem Chijioke
Chiziterem Chijioke is a Creative Director, Digital Marketer and Storyteller. She is an experienced Writer with a history of working in the writing and editing industry. Additionally, she is a writing coach with immense interest in the bloom of writers in Nigeria. Chiziterem is also a member of our editorial team here at Creative Writing News.
About the Prize
- The Quramo Writers’ Prize submissions opens up every February. Therefore, now is the time to tidy up your manuscripts for submission.
- The submission is open worldwide to unpublished African writers.
- Finally, ensure each entry is an original, unpublished work.
