The joint winners of the JAY Lit Awards poetry category will receive $25 each, while the fiction and non-fiction winners will each receive $50.
By Emmanuel ‘Waziri’ Okoro
The Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit) has announced the winners of its inaugural JAY Lit Awards, recognising outstanding works published in the journal over the past year. The awards, which celebrate excellence in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, were granted to Timi Sanni, Salama Wainaina, Chidera Nwume, and Afrocritik’s East African culture journo and critic, Frank Njugi.
All winners and runners-up are automatic winners of the 2024 “JAY Lit Editor’s Choice Commendation”, as selected by the respective JAY Lit category editors (the tier 2 judges)—Gabriel Awuah Mainoo (poetry), Deborah Oluniran-Adeniyi (Fiction), and Iruoma Chukwuemeka (Non-Fiction).
The winners were chosen by tier 1 judges, including poet and cultural advocate, S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema (Poetry), 2018 Caine Prize winner, Makena Onjerika (Fiction), and award-winning Zambian writer, Mubanga Kalimamukwento (Non-Fiction). Su’eddie Vershima Agema described the poetry finalists as “beautiful and poignant, striking in imagery, narrative, and thematic preoccupation”.
The joint winners of the poetry category will receive $25 each, while the fiction and non-fiction winners will each receive $50. Runners-up will be awarded books from partner presses, including Masobe Books, Narrative Landscape Press, and Jacaranda Books. Other prizes include manuscript reviews, automatic qualification for The SEVHAGE-JAY Lit Hyginus Ekwuazi Poetry Prize 2024, and publication in the SEVHAGE Deep Collection 2024.
JAY Lit Awards manager, Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim, expressed his pride in launching the initiative: “The JAY Lit Awards are not competitions but acknowledgements of excellence. Congratulations to all winners and runners-up. We hope this recognition inspires them to continue believing in the power of their words”.
The JAY Lit Awards are poised to become a significant platform for recognising and celebrating young literary voices from Africa.
Check out the full winners list below:
JAY Lit Prize for Poetry
- “State of Emergency” by Timi Sanni (Issue 7) – Joint Winner
- “Three Deaths” by Salama Wainaina (Issue 8) – Joint Winner
- “Four Incantations for the Earth” by Arikewusola Abdul Awal (Issue 7) – Joint Runner-Up
- “Oil on Canvas (2024)” by Aman Bibi Gray (Issue 7) – Joint Runner-Up
JAY Lit Prize for Fiction
- “Welcome to Iya Mosun’s Midnight Club” by Chidera Nwume (Issue 8) – Winner
- “Mother Theresa” by Ekemini Pius (Issue 7) – 1st Runner-Up
- “RIP Revisited” by Jan Brümmer (Issue 6) – 2nd Runner-Up
JAY Lit Prize for Non-Fiction
- “The Palate” by Frank Njugi (Issue 8) – Winner
- “Ignorance is Brit” by MaryAnn Ifeanacho (Issue 7) – 1st Runner-Up
- “Dancing to the Rhythm of a Funeral Song” by Great Opara (Issue 8) – 2nd Runner-Up