By: Ramatu Mahmud Jawando
The 2022 winners of the biennial Samira Bawumia Literature Prize (SBLP) have been unveiled with winners announced after a thorough competition which also involved a number of activities.
As part of activities under the 2nd edition, a writing workshop was organized at the University of Development Studies (UDS), Tamale in March 2022 to groom participants in areas of creative writing including poetry, imaginative fictional stories and short creative nonfiction.
Also this year, the SBLP in partnership with the University of Ghana English Department held the “Evening With”series to bring together experienced writers to share their unique perspectives on engaging and fascinating content in the literary space.
The maiden event was hosted by award-winning Nigerian author, Chigozie Obioma who engagedthe audience on the theme: ‘Breaking through the International Literature Space; the art and business of the writing craft’.
After all said and done, Phinehas Osei, Luther Dewilaa Fembeti and Michael Amankwaa Adu – in that particular order – were named as winners of the Short Fiction category.
Gabriel Awuah Mainoo, Afua Awo Twumwa and Khadia Alexandra Okai-Koi were the winners for Poetry.
Henneh Kwaku Kyereh, Makonk Najah and Anna-Maria Poku were the winners in the Non-Fiction category.
First place winners will be awarded laptops and cash prizes of GH¢5,000, second place gets GH¢3,000 and third-placed winners get GH¢2,000.
GH¢1,000 each will be given to the 4th to 10th place winners in each category.
Additionally, all top 30 shortlisted entries across categories will be published in the 2nd edition of the Anthology “All Ghana a Stage”.
The Samira Empowerment & Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) is a not-for-profit organization founded andmanaged by Second Lady Hajia Mrs. Samira Bawumia to improve the lives of women, children, and youth in under-served communities in Ghana through diverse social interventions in the areas of health, education, and economic empowerment.
The first edition was held in 2020.
