By  JAPHET ALAKAM- Literature

After three editions, a Nigerian writer, Jowhor Ile, has emerged the winner of the 2016 edition of Etisalat Prize for Literature.

• The winner, Jowhor Ileh reacts to the announcement(INSET) The winning book

Ile’s first published novel, And After Many Days, was announced the winner at a prize presentation ceremony, which took place almost two months behind schedule. With this feat, Ile becomes the first Nigerian writer to win the prize, adjudged as the most prestigious literature prize for first-time fiction writers of African origin established in 2013.

And after Many Days was picked by the panel of judges, over Jacqui L’Ange’s (South Africa) “The Seed Thief” and and another Nigerian Juliet Iromuanya’s “Mr and Mrs Doctor”.

Jowhor Ile’s book was published in Nigeria by Kachifo Limited.

The young Ileh went home with £15,000 prize money and an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück pen among several other rewards.

Another Nigerian, Julie Iromuanya,  author of the book,  Mr & Mrs Doctor, and a South African,Jacqui L’Ange, author of  The Seed Thief, emerged  as the runners-up for the prize.

Ile’s announcement followed the unanimous selection of his book by the judging panel for the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature chaired by multiple award-winning  novelist and poet, Helon Habila.

Habila, while congratulating the winner and the runners-up, disclosed that the prize-winning book met the required standards of originality, creative excellence and African sensibility, in keeping with the objective of the Etisalat Prize, which is to promote literary excellence in Africa.

According to the Chair of Judges, Helon Habila, the three writers were selected from a long list after fulfilling some criteria. According to Habila “ in addition to originality of voice and literary excellence, our purpose was to also select a work that portrays an African sensibility”.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher, congratulated the winner and the runners-up, and restated the company’s commitment to continuously offer Nigerians and other Africans the best platforms to express their passion and creativity.

“From the outset, our vision at Etisalat has been to support innovation, creativity and talent development. This is why we have stayed focused on creating platforms that enable people, not only to communicate and stay in touch with one another, but also to express their individual creative abilities in all forms of science and arts”, he said.

Born in 1980 and bred in the city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Ile took to writing early and has had his short stories published in McSweeney’s Quarterly  and Litro Magazine.His 256-page novel, And After Many Days, set in Port Harcourt in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, tells the story  of a family whose 17-year old son and sibling, Paul Utu, goes missing during the rainy season of 1995. Burdened with the sudden loss, the family gets torn apart, as their search for answers uncovers several family secrets.

In addition to the  prize money, other rewards for Ile include an Etisalat-sponsored fellowship at the University of East Anglia where he will be mentored by Professor Giles Foden, author of  The Last King of Scotland’.   He and the  two runners-up  will participate in a multi-city book tour of three African countries also sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria. Furthermore, Etisalat will purchase 1,000 copies of their books for distribution to schools, libraries and book clubs across Africa.

Past winners of the Etisalat Prize for Literature include  Democratic Republic of Congo’s Fiston Mwanza Mujila, for his novel,  Tram 83;  South African writer, Songeziwe Mahlangu for his novel,Penumbra  and  Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo for her novel,  We Need New Names.