NLNG’s $100,000 Literature Prize: 11 Poets Battle for Africa’s Richest Literary Honour

ByNewsmakers

Aug 1, 2026 #CORA Book Party 2026, #Nigeria LNG Limited, #Nigeria Prize for Literature 2026, #Nigeria Prize for Literature longlist, #Nigerian poets 2026, #NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, #Poetry Prize Nigeria

Segun Atanda/

LAGOS — The race for Africa’s most lucrative literary prize has intensified as the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) unveiled the 11 longlisted poets for the 2026 edition of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature, setting the stage for a major literary celebration in Lagos.

The longlisted authors will be formally presented at the 18th CORA–Nigeria Prize for Literature Book Party, scheduled for Sunday, August 2, at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The event, which will also be streamed live on Zoom, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, offers literature enthusiasts an opportunity to interact with the writers behind the year’s most outstanding poetry collections.

This year’s competition, dedicated to the poetry genre, attracted 223 entries, from which the judges selected the final 11 works considered the finest for the longlist.

The longlisted books, arranged alphabetically, are:
• Adult Love by Tanure Ojaide
• Bakandamiya: An Elegy by Saddiq Dzukogi
• Black Passport by Paul Akpomuje
• 2000 Blacks by Ajibola Tolase
• Ceremony for the Nameless by Theresa Lola
• Corpus by Ayo Oyeku
• Flora’s Love Colony by Tares Oburumu
• The Origin of Wounds by Rasaq Malik Gbolahan
• The Years of Blood by Adedayo Agarau
• Unbind Me Now by James Eze
• Why Does God Need a Gun by Ogaga Ifowodo.

Organisers described the annual Book Party as more than a literary gathering, saying it serves as a platform for readers to engage directly with the authors whose works have emerged among the country’s best. The event will feature conversations, poetry performances, networking, and entertainment in celebration of contemporary Nigerian literature.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by NLNG since its inauguration in 2004, has grown from an initial prize fund of $20,000 to $100,000, making it the richest literary prize on the African continent.

CORA noted that the initiative complements its long-standing commitment to promoting Nigerian and African arts through programmes such as the Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF), which has been held annually since 1999 and is widely regarded as one of Africa’s premier cultural festivals. The 28th edition of LABAF is scheduled for November 16–22 under the theme, “The WORKOVER Starts, NOW.”