Innocent Chizaram Ilo has been awarded the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa Region for his story ‘When a Woman Renounces Motherhood’.
According to Chicago-based online literary magazine, Brittle Paper, at 23, Ilo is the youngest-ever writer to be awarded the Africa region prize.
He follows Zambia’s Mbozi Haimbe who won the same prize last year for her short story ‘Madam’s Sister’, and emerged winner in a shortlist that includes Caleb Ozovehe Ajinomoh, Ghanaian Aba Asibon, South African Alboricah Tokologo Rathupetsane and ML Kejera from The Gambia.
The judging panel that selected Ilo’s work was chaired by Ghanaian writer, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, and five other judges representing the five regions of the Commonwealth: Mohale Mashigo for Africa, William Phuan for Asia, Heather O’Neill for Canada and Europe, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw for Caribbean and Nic Low for the Pacific.
“‘When a Woman Renounces Motherhood’ is one of those stories that tell you something shocking and yet leave you with empathy for the characters in a story. The writing is so specific and intimate which, makes you want to go back and read it again… and again,” Mohale Mashigo said of Ilo’s winning story.
The chair of the judging panel, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, also praised the story for its “particularly striking confidence switching between languages” as well as Ilo’s unapologetic use of interspersed, un-italicized Igbo and pidgin.
Winning the regional prize comes with a £2,500 cash prize and publication in Granta, an influential literary magazine based in the UK, published since 1889 and with an estimated circulation of 50,000 copies (as at 2006).
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth’s 54-member states;.
According to the Johannesburg Review of Books, it is the only prize in the world where entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, English, French, Greek, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil and Turkish.
Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible.
Other regional winners are: ‘The Great Indian Tee and Snakes’ by Kritika Pandey (Asia Region), ‘Wherever Mister Jensen Went’ by Reyah Martin (Canada and Europe Region), ‘Mafootoo’ by Brian S. Heap (Caribbean Region) and ‘The Art of Waving’ by Andrea E. Macleod (Pacific Region).
The overall winner, who will be announced during a special online award ceremony on 30 June 2020 will receive £5,000.
While Ilo is registering his name on the Commonwealth short story award list, Grace Paul-Okpara from Abia State is also writing her own history, as she earlier this week emerged the overall best graduating student from San Jose State University, California, United States, for the 2019/2020 academic session.
Miss Okpara scored a maximum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 (out of 4.0) in Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Earlier in the month, a Nigerian sailor, Annabel Kemmy, had also emerged as the best graduating student at the University of Rwanda. She also presented the best research paper and emerged as third-best at the Senior Command and Staff Course 08.
On her Instagram handle, Annabel said she was proud to be a good representative of Nigeria.
She said, “So, today marked the end of another chapter in my life. This was by far one of the most exciting for me as I got to acquire two very important qualifications.
“My joy was, however, in the fact that I got the opportunity to make my beloved country, Nigeria, proud. Best student with a Distinction in the Master of Arts in Security Studies (University of Rwanda); Best College Research Paper and third-best in merit of Senior Command and Staff Course 08 (Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College).
“Nigeria, my beloved country, I feel honored to have represented you this past year in Rwanda. As I flip this book to another hopefully exciting chapter, I look forward to more opportunities to serve. I dedicate my awards to the Nigerian Navy,” she said.
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