On Wednesday October 9th, organisers of the Nigerian Prize for Literature, The Nigerian Liquified Gas Limited (NLNG), announced Tade Ipadeola as the winner for the NPL 2013 edition of the $100,000 literary prize.
At a world conference held today at the Oceanview Restaurant, Victoria Island Lagos, the panel of judges said Ipadeola’s The Sahara Testaments beat the other 200 entries submitted for the competition this year. “Ipadeola used the Sahara as a metonymy for the problems of Africa and indeed, the whole of humanity. His work encompasses vast stores of knowledge in an encyclopaedic dimension,” the chairman of the panel of judges, Professor Romanus Egudu, said.
Tade Ipadeola, the author of two volumes of poetry – A Time of Signs (2000) and The Rain Fardel (2005) and Lawyer, has also published short stories and essays. In 2009, he won the Delphic Laurel in poetry with his poem ‘Songbird’ in Jeju, South Korea. Tade currently serves as the President of PEN Nigeria Centre and lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he writes and practices law.
At a world conference held today at the Oceanview Restaurant, Victoria Island Lagos, the panel of judges said Ipadeola’s The Sahara Testaments beat the other 200 entries submitted for the competition this year. “Ipadeola used the Sahara as a metonymy for the problems of Africa and indeed, the whole of humanity. His work encompasses vast stores of knowledge in an encyclopaedic dimension,” the chairman of the panel of judges, Professor Romanus Egudu, said.
Tade Ipadeola, the author of two volumes of poetry – A Time of Signs (2000) and The Rain Fardel (2005) and Lawyer, has also published short stories and essays. In 2009, he won the Delphic Laurel in poetry with his poem ‘Songbird’ in Jeju, South Korea. Tade currently serves as the President of PEN Nigeria Centre and lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he writes and practices law.
According to the panel, his work contains potent rhetoric and satire on the topical issues and personalities, ranging from Africa’s blood diamonds and inflation in Nigeria to contrite…Blair. “His use of poetic language demonstrates a striking marriage of thought and verbal artistry expressed in the blending of sound and sense. Sahara is replete with historical, geographical and literary allusions and tropes,” the General Manager, External Relations, Dr Kudo Eresia-Eke.
Other members of the panel of judges for this year's prize included
the Nigerian Prize for Literature winner 2008, Kaine Agary; International Literary Consultant, Prof. Kofianyidoho; Member, Advisory Board for Literature, Prof. Ben Elugbe; Vice Chairman, Advisory Board for Literature, Dr. Jerry Agade; Judges, Prof. Omolara Ogundipe and Dr. Andrew Aba.
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