1. Nigerian Writer- Ifeanyi Ajaegbo's debut novel "House of Sarah", Shortlisted For Commonwealth Book Prize 2013.


IFEANYI AJAEGBO is a development consultant and communications practitioner who lives and works in Port Harcourt in Nigeria. His writing has won awards and fellowships, including the 2005 African regional prize for the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Sarah House is his first novel.

A glimpse of the novel:

"Nita wakes up one night to discover herself in a dark world very different from the life of opportunities promised to her by Slim, the man she loved and trusted to take her away from the small island town of Opobo, Nigeria. Soon she realises she is a slave, bought and sold without her consent and forced into a life of prostitution and sleazy strip clubs.

Every day Nita walks a tightrope of survival surrounded by vicious pimps and thugs. She meets Tega, a fellow slave lured into prostitution by Slim; she is sold to Madam, who runs Sarah House and makes money from young girls and children; she finds favour with Chief, an influential politician who provides protection for Madam’s illicit business in human trafficking, and she must survive Lothar, a renegade porn film maker. Life in this nightmare world gets more complicated when Nita meets pretty, young Damka and is approached by a police detective working undercover.

When Damka disappears and Nita discovers the child’s bloodied clothes in a room in Sarah House, she knows she has to work with the police in spite of the dangers to her own life."

2. Chibundu Onuzo's novel- "The Spider King’s Daughter" has also been shortlisted for Commonwealth 2013 book prize.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO was born in Nigeria in 1991 and is the youngest of four children. She is currently studying History at Kings College, London. When not writing, Chibundu can be found playing the piano or singing.

A glimpse of "The Spider King's Daughter":

"The Spider King’s Daughter’ is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of a changing Lagos, a city torn between tradition and modernity, corruption and truth, love and family loyalty. Seventeen-year-old Abike Johnson is the favourite child of her wealthy father. She lives in a sprawling mansion in Lagos, protected by armed guards and ferried everywhere in a huge black jeep. But being her father’s favourite comes with uncomfortable duties, and she is often lonely behind the high walls of her house.

A world away from Abike’s mansion, in the city’s slums, lives a seventeen-year-old hawker struggling to make sense of the world. His family lost everything after his father’s death and now he runs after cars on the roadside selling ice cream to support his mother and sister.

When Abike buys ice cream from the hawker one day, they strike up an unlikely and tentative romance, defying the prejudices of Nigerian society. But as they grow closer, revelations from the past threaten their relationship and both Abike and the hawker must decide where their loyalties lie."

Congrats to our own Ifeanyi Ajaegbo and Chibundu Onuzo....we are coming too

COOL. CONGRATS

Congrats to them..

Congrats..hope to be among someday

Chibundu Onuzo is a very promising writer. Congrats to the both of them.

Who says Nigeria does not have good writers?.we are the best.

Nothing new.......same Romeo and Juliet story. Copy and paste

But congratulations

Please we need young intellects to fill the void Chinua Achebe left in the literary world. Hope these young folks will do. They seem promising though.

congrat to both of them...Am proud of them.

Texas.Cowgirl:
Nothing new.......same Romeo and Juliet story. Copy and paste

But congratulations

hmmm!
Is that all you can wish them

.

Chibundo should come up with her own story and stop hiding under the shadow of shakespeare

Texas.Cowgirl:
Nothing new.......same Romeo and Juliet story. Copy and paste

But congratulations

Write up your own Novels And let see if the publicity would go beyond your locality.. Try to Appreciate Little things.

Texas.Cowgirl:
Nothing new.......same Romeo and Juliet story. Copy and paste

But congratulations

Old.Cowgirl

If there is nothing new, when will the new stuff come from you?

See me see wahala

Common wealth kò, common proverty ní. No be all dis one dey worry me

Damn Pegasus!

This is awwessome than my righting. I wished them prusperity and froots of the holy gost as they rite more for our igbo brodars.



Oga Yuzedo, how are your and you island?

sexymoma: Write up your own Novels And let see if the publicity would go beyond your locality.. Try to Appreciate Little things.

She was so quick to click on the link with smiles on her face and with words in her mouth, words filled with now trite praises of how superior her people is; the greatest people to ever walk on this earth.
There and behold, the first name sounds familiar. With the quickness of finger of an experienced gamer, she scrolled down to see who the next nominee was. She paused for a while staring blankly into her screen, disappointed and jealous, she uttered a hiss.
By this time, her fingers were ready to type, but lacking the coordination of her partially inactive brain cells, words were written that could not hide her envy towards a people that keep breaking her heart.

Achebe must be smiling

Congrats folks
The girl has a typical South African look

achi4u: hmmm!
Is that all you can wish them

^^^If you're expecting more than the half-hearted congrats she's already given, then i'm afraid you're on a long thing!

For those saying negative things about these writers, pls note that writing is one of the most difficult thing to do, you can't compare it with music that you all are celebrating daily, even the useless ones that has no lyrical meaning...you still dance it and jump up.

Again, I had participated in several international writing competitions, got close to finish line, but couldn't get to the final shortlist as it may be...and so I know what it means to be recognised by anonymous international judges...it takes good work, luck, grace and timing to make it, so give up to these guys cos I also participated in this competition but unfortunately, I didn't make it....


Celebrate them- writing isn't easy at all- creating an imaginary world out of nothing, and dropping every reader into a scene they knew nothing about, what a creativity.

We really need more excellent writers from Nigeria, yes we can!!!

Congratulations to them.
This looks like a great year of favours for Nigerian writers.
Prof Chinua Achebe's last prayers are bringing more blessings to us worldwide.
We give all the glory to God.

This is our Harvest of the Savannah.

Poster, there are three Nigerians and not two.

You forgot "Sterile Sky" by E.E. Sule (Nigeria)



E. E. SULE is the pen-name of Dr. Sule E. Egya who is an associate professor in Department of English, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria. Besides published academic work and essays, Dr.Egya is the author of the short story collections Impotent Heavens and Dream and Shame, and the poetry volumes Naked Sun, Knifing Tongues and What the Sea Told Me. His poems, short stories, and critical work have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies and literary magazines. Sterile Sky is his first novel.

Nice one, i love it when igbos bear their real igbo names than their English names. God bless Nigeria

chibundu's book was nominated for a commonwealth price and some persons here with cow brains are saying trash about the girls work......

Kudos! One of us is also on the short story category. Goodluck. Next year, I will be there. Amen!