…and Isong bags UK’s biggest literary prize fund

RADIO Sunrise, the debut novel by Nigerian writer, Anietie Isong, has been adjudged the winner of the 2018 McKitterick Prize.

Mr Isong thus becomes the first Nigerian to win the McKitterick Prize, said to be the biggest literary prize fund in the United Kingdom, since its establishment in 1990.

The prize is awarded for a first novel by a writer over 40, according to the Society of Authors.

“I wrote Radio Sunrise to help draw attention to a myriad of issues in Nigeria, and I am thrilled that this resonated with the judges,” Isong said.

Speaking at the event which took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects, the prize judge and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Aamer Hussein, commended Anietie’s distinct writing.

Aamer said, “It’s a particular pleasure to discover the original, intriguing voice of Anietie Isong. In his brief, deftly told in Radio Sunrise, the author depicts his often-hapless protagonist’s sexual mishaps and political travails on a journey to his hometown with a unique blend of humour and poignance. (He’s) an intriguing and accomplished new novelist.”

Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrania, also described Anietie Isong as “a keen observer of his society, with an exceptional gift of narration.”

The McKitterick Prize, administered by the Society of Authors, was endowed by Tom McKitterick, who had been an editor of The Political Quarterly but had also written a novel which was never published.

As of 2009, the value of the prize was £4000.

Apart from receiving the £4000 prize money, Anietie had received previous awards like a Commonwealth Short Story Award and the Remember Oluwale Writing Prize.

A journalist, speechwriter and public relations manager in the UK and in Nigeria, Anietie recently completed a doctorate in New Media and Writing at De Montfort University, Leicester.

He has also been invited to speak at the Marlborough Literature Festival in the UK, in September.

Radio Sunrise paints a satirical portrait of (post) post-colonial Nigeria that builds on the legacy of the great African satirist tradition of Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Ayi Kwei Armah.  It explores the issue of bribery in the journalism profession and is described by Isong as “a satirical portrait of Nigeria”.

A graduate of the University of Ibadan where he studied Communication Arts, Isong worked in broadcasting for Metro FM, also scriptwriting for the station, before relocating to the United Kingdom. There, he studied at the University of Leicester.

Among his poems and short stories, Anietie had won the MUSON Poetry Award for These Many Rivers and the Commonwealth Short Story Award for Diary of an ECOMOG Soldier.

He subsequently sponsored a special prize in the Commonwealth competition for “best Nigerian story” in 2010.

Isong also once worked with the Shell Petroleum Development Company as a speech writer, and formerly worked at the University of Birmingham as International Press Officer.

He is the younger brother to popular Nollywood producer and screenplay writer, Emen Isong.

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The McKitterick Prize was first awarded in 1990 to Simon Mawer for his work, Chimera.

Other winners of the prize over the years are: John Loveday, Halo (1991); Alberto Manguel, News from a Foreign Country Came (1992); Andrew Barrow, Tap Dancer (1993); Helen Dunmore, Zennor in Darkness (1994); Christopher Bigsby, Hester (1995); Stephen Blanchard, Gagarin and I (1996) and Patricia Duncker, Hallucinating Foucault (1997).

Others are Eli Gottlieb, The Boy Who Went Away (1998); Magnus Mills, The Restraint of Beasts (1999); Chris Dolan, Ascension Day (2000); Giles Waterfield, The Long Afternoon (2001); Manil Suri, The Death of Vishnu (2002); Mary Lawson, Crow Lake (2003); Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2004); Lloyd Jones, Mr Vogel (2005).

Peter Peter Pouncey won it in 2006 with his work, Rules for Old Men Waiting; Reina James in 2007 for This Time of Dying; Jennie Walker in 2008 for 24 for 3; Chris Hannan in 2009 for Missy; Raphael Selbourne in 2010 for Beauty; Emma Henderson in 2011 for Grace Williams Says It Loud; Ginny Baily in 2012 for Africa Junction, and Alison Moore in 2013 The Lighthouse.

The 2014 winner was Gabriel Weston for Dirty Work; Robert Allison won it in 2015 The Letter Bearer; while the two previous winners before Isong were Petina Gappah, The Book of Memory (2016), and David Dyer, The Midnight Watch (2017).