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Literary prize in honour of Adimora-Ezeigbo instituted

By Sunday Aikulola
21 August 2022   |   3:55 am
A Literary prize has been instituted in honour of Nigerian writer and academic, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo.

Adimora-Ezeigbo and Odinye

A Literary prize has been instituted in honour of Nigerian writer and academic, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo.

The founder Abibiman Publishing, Onyeka Nwelue, who instituted the prize in honour of the multiple award-winning writer and Professor of English, made this known in a statement.

“It’s very important to celebrate Professor Adimora-Ezeigbo now that she is here. I grew up reading her work. I became a university teacher, because of the opportunity she gave to me at 21. This prize will be in five categories for published works and the literary critic and academic, Dr. Ifeoma Ezinne Odinye will decide on the direction it will take – to honour Professor Adimora-Ezeigbo,” Nwelue said.

According to the publisher, the Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Literature will be in 5 categories for published works in English:
• Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Poetry
• Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Fiction
• Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Children’s Literature
• Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Drama
• Akachi Ezeigbo Prize for Non-Fiction

Professor Ezeigbo is author of over 50 books and an educator, whose published work includes novels, poetry, short stories, books for children, essays and journalism. She is the winner of several awards in Nigeria, including the Nigeria Prize for Literature. She is chairperson of the Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature.

Odinye is currently the Vice President of the Oxford-based James Currey Society and Senior Lecturer in the department of English Language and Literature, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; from which she graduated with a First Class Honours in 2006. Notably, she is the pioneer First Class Honours graduate of the department.

Odinye has master’s degree in Literature in 2014 and doctorate in 2019 from the same department. She studied at Renmin University, Beijing, China in 2008-2009. She has a master’s degree in Chinese Philosophy from Xiamen University, China in 2012.

Her areas of specialisation are Creative Writing, Gender Studies, Comparative Literature and Postcolonial Literatures. She is currently a Senior Lecturer on dual appointment in the departments of Chinese Studies and English Language and Literature of the aforementioned university.

Odinye has published articles, poems and novels. Pain in the Neck (2018) is her debut novel. African-China (2019) is her second novel—a sequel to her debut. These are diasporic novels—a leap into the Asian worldview and Nigerians’ bizarre experiences in the diaspora.

She also has to her credit; a collection of poems entitled At Sunset (2018). This collection contains the award winning poem “Zion’s Zest” in the 2018 Annual (EWC) Eclectic Writers Community International Poetry Competition.

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