Akin Bello Wins Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa

The winner of this years Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa was announced at a grand ceremony at The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos this past Friday night. His name is Akin Bello and the work that won him the award is the play The Egbon of Lagos beating the two contenders Toyin Abiodun and Othuke Ominibohs. He went home with the prize money of $20,000.
For those who might be wondering, the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is a pan-African writing prize started in 2005 and awarded every two years. The prize was established by The Lumina Foundation in honour of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka.
In this prize, all forms of literature are considered with a different branch getting the prize. This year the prize was for drama and the 2016 one will be for poetry while the 2018 will be for prose.
Akin Bello, the former Chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), was selected by a panel of five judges drawn from Uganda, South Africa, Mali, Nigeria, and Algeria led by Professor Olu Obafemi, a prolific playwright, novelist, and poet.
Before his big night, Bello had published three novels and a poetry collection.