Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa was a pan-African writing prize awarded bienniallyWole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, official website. to the best literary work produced by an African. The $20,000 prize was established in 2005 and administered by the Lumina Foundation"The Lumina Foundation's Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa", LuminaFoundationSoyinkaPrize.com. in honour of Africa's first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka.
While no official statement has been made on the state of the prize, it has not been awarded since 2018. In June 2025, Nigerian businessman Olabode Opeseitan wrote an opinion piece in The Nation urging the governors of Lagos and Ogun states—where Soyinka resides and was born—to support funding for the prize.
On the establishment of the prize Soyinka commented: "This is a pan African prize. We consider it to be our own Nobel prize in Africa. It unifies Africans, celebrates Africa’s great minds, brings home Africa’s best intellectuals as judges, entertainers and great communicators and leaders in their own rights. It’s a book prize I am happy and proud to be part of because of the tribute it pays to profound knowledge generation and dissemination and to Africa’s diverse cultures and personalities."
The winner was chosen by an international jury of African literary figures and the prize was presented by Soyinka at an award dinner in Lagos."Jury for Wole Soyinka prize announced", Joy Online, 22 June 2015. Entries had to be written in English or French.Wole Soyinka Prize Rules, The Lumina Foundation. Initially any literary genre was eligible to be considered, but starting in 2014, a single genre was selected for each edition: drama in 2014, poetry in 2016, and prose in 2018.2014 Wole Soyinka Entry Prize Rules.
Past sponsors included the Nigerian telco Glo which supported the prize for three years.
Winners 2006: Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come. The inaugural award took place on 5 August 2006 at the Muson Centre, Lagos, Nigeria,, previous winners.The Lumina Foundation. where the guest speaker was former Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor."Africa's Literary Prize" , Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA), 29 October 2012. 2008: Nnedi Okorafor, Zahrah the Windseeker 2010: (shared prize) Kopano Matlwa, Coconut Wale Okediran, Tenants of the House 2012: Sifiso Mzobe, Young Blood 2014: Akin Bello, The Egbon of Lagos (play) 2018: (shared prize) Harriet Anena, A Nation in Labour Updated 6 July 2020. Tanure Ojaide, Songs of Myself
See also Grand Prix of Literary Associations
Notes
External links Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa official website