Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa
The Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa was established by The Lumina Foundation in 2005. It was conceived as a very prestigious prize in honour of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in literature to celebrate excellence in all its cerebral grace, its liberating qualities, the honour and recognition it brings to a myriad of people, of diverse cultures and languages. This prize honours people who have used their talents well enough to affect others positively. It honours Africa’s great writers and causes their works to be appreciated. It celebrates excellent writing, promotes scholarship and makes books available and affordable by subsidizing the publication of books in the top list of the judges.
This is a pan African prize, viewed also as Africa’s NOBEL prize. It unifies Africans, celebrates Africa’s great minds, brings home Africa’s best intellectuals as judges, entertainers, great communicators and leaders in their own rights.
It was designed to be The African prize with a lot of artistic features symbolising the Soyinka personae, as a distinguished intellectual, a conscientious and sensitive writer, a lover of the arts and humanities and a stickler for excellence, good governance, equity and justice.
Peculiar features attached to the prize ceremony:
The peculiar features of the Soyinka prize award is the festival attached to it. The following events will feature in the festival: The Soyinka Prize award ceremony will commence with The Soyinka Festival which celebrates African writers and their works. It is a three day festival of arts comprising:
i. Book exhibitions by African publishers who are duly registered for the event.
ii. Book fair and Book carnival
iii Theatrical performances (Drama, poetry recitation, book carnival, etc).
iv. Lectures
v. Book readings/Audience interaction with authors
vi. School children, reading clubs
vii Art exhibitions etc.
Prize money/Prize status:
The Prize money is $20,000. (Twenty thousand US Dollars) The prize is awarded every other year. The maiden edition of this prize took place on August 5th, 2006 at the Muson Centre, Lagos.