By PRISCA SAM-DURU

The Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature has released the final shortlist of three Poets for the 2013 edition of the prize. The three shortlisted writers, are Tade Ipadeola (The Sahara Testaments), Amu Nnadi (Through the window of a sandcastle) and Promise Ogochukwu (Wild Letters).

The final shortlist of three follows an initial shortlist of eleven; Obi Nwakamma, Afam Ake, Ede Amatoritsero, Nnadi Amu, Iquo Eke and Ogochukwu Promise. Others were Egbewo G’ebinyo, Gomba Obari, Tade Ipadeola , Launko Okinba and Raji Remi which were selected out of a total of 201 books submitted for this year’s prize.

The  prize which is sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited according to the chairman of the Advisory Board, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, rotates yearly amongst four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. The 2013 prize is for poetry and comes with a cash prize of $100, 000.”  The eventual winner of the competition will be announced at a World Press Conference on 9th October, 2013.

Poet and Lawyer, Tade Ipadeola who lives in Ibadan from where he writes and practices law has authored three volumes of poetry along with other published short stories and essays. He is the current President of PEN International, Nigeria Centre, an organization which promotes literature and advocates freedom of expression.

Amu Nnadi’s debut Poetry won the maiden edition of ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara Prize for Poetry. He is also the author of pilgrim’s passage. Nnadi, who is renowned for writing poetry without punctuation and capital letters as well as publishes without any personal data and name, lives in Port Harcourt, and currently works at the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Ogochukwu Promise, a PhD holder in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan, has published several literary works including novels, children’s literature, short stories, drama, poetry and essays. In 2005, Ogochukwu was on the shortlist of three for The Nigeria Prize for Literature with her volume of poetry, Naked Among These Hills. She lives in Lagos, where she is actively involved in various charity programmes and activities.