Sponsored by The Lumina Foundation Hosted by The Lumina Foundation First awarded 2006 | Country Nigeria Reward(s) $20,000 | |
Awarded for Pan-African writing prize for books of any type or genre | ||
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is a pan-African writing prize awarded biennially, to recognize the best literary work produced by an African. It was established by The Lumina Foundation in 2005 in honour of Africa's first Nobel Laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka, who normally presents the prize, chosen by an international jury of distinguished literary figures. Administered by the Lumina Foundation (whose chief executive is Dr. Ogochukwu Promise), the Wole Soyinka Prize has been described as "the African equivalent of the Nobel Prize".
The prize is awarded every other year to an African writer, and the winner receives $20,000 at the awards ceremony in Lagos or a selected city in Africa. Entries must be written in English or French. Although originally all genres were considered for every award, beginning with 2014 there would be one genre eligible for each edition of the award, with drama being considered for 2014, poetry in 2016 and prose in 2018.