‘It feels surreal being called an award-winning writer’

THE inaugural Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature 2024 winner, Haliru Ali Musa, has said, “It still feels surreal being called an award-winning writer.”

The engineer and writer won the prize worth $770.00, which African Griot organised.

Musa’s short fiction story, ‘The Pregnant Ghost’, beat the 71 entries submitted to the prize to emerge as the winner.

He said he owed his victory to God and the small, consistent effort he put into his writing.

“It still feels surreal, being called an award-winning writer, especially when I think about how I have often approached writing like a game. I have been unserious, or so I thought,” he said.

He added that, though he has been writing nearly every day for almost two years now, he feels it is not enough and wants to do more and will do more.

The young engineer cum writer appreciated the African Griot and the founder of the award, Alexander Nderitu, “For seeing something worthy in my story. May this be just the beginning.”

Apart from winning the prize, Musa was the face of the first issue of The African Griot Review, a monthly arts and culture magazine that promotes Africa’s contributions to global culture.

A press statement published in The African Griot Review described Musa’s ‘The Pregnant Ghost’ as a “beautifully structured and stylishly told story.”

The magazine further stated, “The young Nigerian makes a grand entry into the world of letters, given that he will receive a Kshs 100,000 (USD$ 770.00) cash injection, a one-year-long online marketing campaign, and have the option of agent representation by an Asian literary agency.”

Out of the 71 submissions to the prize, the five shortlisted stories from which the winner emerged were ‘The Pregnant Ghost’ by Haliru Ali Musa (Nigeria), ‘Mortuary’ by Ekenedirichukwu Anselm Alita (Nigeria), ‘Call of the Sandy Tombs’ by Kaluwe Haangala (Zambia), ‘Mama Tekla’s Sunset’ by J. E. Sibi-Okumu (Kenya), and ‘Beauty’s in a Mark’ by Kagira George (Kenya).

Commenting on the outcome of the literary contest, the organisers added, “Nigeria proved once again that it is the cultural powerhouse of the African continent.”

Haliru Ali Musa is a Nigerian writer and power engineer. He believes that before problems can be solved, people must first care about them. Whether working on Nigeria’s electrical grid or crafting narratives, his goal remains to connect people to causes that matter.

He’s an alumnus of the Nigerian Academy of Letters’ Creative Writing Workshop. His work has appeared in Farafina Blog, Akpata Magazine, and elsewhere. His short fiction story ‘A Garden Only Seen in Dreams’ is forthcoming this month in Naira Stories Magazine.

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