Introducing: Àtìpó Book Review Prize
Writers not over age 22 are invited to submit reviews between 400–600 words of Wole Olayinka’s ‘Alejo: Crossing Times’ to win a shared cash prize.
Book O’Clock is dedicated to promoting African literature and platforming new voices through cultural events and social advocacy programmes. We are excited to announce our first prize for book reviews.
The Àtìpó Book Review Prize is a literary prize presenting a shared monetary award to African book critics and reviewers. The maiden edition seeks to award 100,000 NGN to the top-two reviewers of Wole Olayinka’s Alejo: Crossing Times. The book to be reviewed is an independently-published young adult novella featuring Yoruba mythology, fantasy, and time travel.
The Prize is open to young writers not over the age of 22. It has a one-month submission window which opens on July 12 and closes on August 31, 2023. The top two prize winners will be announced on September 25, 2023, via Book O’ Clock’s social media platforms and awarded N60,000 (1st place) and N40,000 (2nd place), respectively.
Through the Alejo Book Review Prize, Book O’Clock invites young Nigerian essayists, reviewers, and students of literary theory not over age 22 to participate in an opportunity to appreciate Nigerian literature.
Why ‘Àtìpó’?
Àtìpó– a Yoruba phrase meaning ‘sojourner’– encompasses the idea that humans are only visitors on Planet Earth. Thus, the African/Nigerian writer or critic embodies a sense of care for life and collective good by spotlighting and preserving African history and narratives. With the Prize, we hope to award writers who convey this altruism/ idea in their excellent critical writing and perhaps embody it spiritually.
Submission Guidelines
- This edition of the Prize seeks to award young adults with excellent critical writing skills. Thus, entrants must be 22 years old or younger when the submission is made.
- Submissions should include scanned or photographed versions of ID (School identification cards, biodata, birth certificates, or any legal identification) as proof of the entrant’s age.
- Entrants must be Nigerians living within Nigeria.
- Review entries should be between 400–600 words. Entrants should email their entries to submittobookoclock@gmail.com no later than 11:59 p.m. (WAT) on August 30 2023.
- We advise participants not to submit their essays as the body of their emails but rather submit MS Word or Doc. versions of their entries and name their documents with names that tally with the ID submitted alongside their entry.
- Documents submitted should be formatted to font size 12, Times New Roman, and 1.5 spacing.
- The prize winners (the top two entries) will be announced on September 25, 2023, via Book O’ Clock’s social media platforms and awarded the shared monetary prize (N60,000 for first place and N40,000 for second place).
- At Book O’ Clock, we consider providing feedback to writers imperative for improvement. We promise to acknowledge all entries and email all entrants who make the shortlist and those who do not. We encourage writers who do not make the shortlist to enter subsequent editions of the Review Prize.
- Reviewers and essayists who wish to enter the prize can purchase physical copies of Wole Olayinka’s Alejo: Crossing Times from Rovingheights, Book O’ Clock Stores in Lagos and Sokoto, or read the ebook on Kindle.
We are waiting to read your entry. Submit to us!
