The Inaugural Abebi Award in AfroNonfiction
From almost ninety submissions sent in from all around Nigeria, five women were selected as the winner, runner up and notable entries. The writers of the winning entries were awarded cash prizes, as well as invited to a two-day writer's residency in Lagos, Nigeria replete with masterclasses and workshops facilitated by The Founder. The Award Ceremony; an intimate garden gathering under the moonlit Lagos sky, held on the 12th of December 2023 and was well attended by friends and family of the celebrated writers, as well as respected members of the literary scene and the gentlemen of the press. The award and residency were all generously sponsored by Jadesola Osiberu, CEO of Greoh Studios. The wonderful people at Isele Magazine partnered with us to publish all the winning entries, which can be found here on their website.
Reading those entries affirmed my deeply seated belief that Nigerian women are powerful storytellers, and that our lives are themselves powerful stories. The essays selected as winners and notable entities for the inaugural award stood out for their brilliance in prose, authenticity, vulnerability but most of all, they shone for the tenderness with which a life was distilled onto the page. From reproductive autonomy to collective grief to the physicality of childbirth, to the power of matriarchal ancestry, to collective healing through memory; all the selected essays bared the souls of the writers as they grappled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Mofiyinfoluwa O. (Founder)
Immaculata Abba - Winner
Rooted in rituals of collective loss and grief, the writer shows us the power of memory to heal not just a person, but a family and even a people. Read here.
Shallom Esene - Runner Up
In “Untimely,” we are thrust into the deep end of the raging throes of sex, death, lust, fear – all for a young woman who is unfurling underneath her parent’s roof. Read here.
Iruoma Chukwuemeka - Notable Entry
By unearthing hidden matrilineal histories, the writer shows us how power is sometimes buried deep in our bones and light can unbury us and set us free. Read here
Janobest Isaac - Notable Entry
In this essay, we see a woman grapple with the reality of bodily autonomy and ultimately choose herself and her right to do as she sees with herself, aided by the divinity of sisterhood. Read here
Nana-Hauwa Sule - Notable Entry
Told from the battlefield of childbirth, this essay is a raw rendition of the life-changing, dangerous, mystical journey that is becoming a mother. Read here.
Photo Gallery
A wonderful night celebrating the beauty of powerful stories.
Credit: All photographs taken by Fifoluwa Adebakin (The Fifographer)