SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and the ALINEA Initiative are delighted to announce the launch of the Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE International Prize for Creative Nonfiction 2024, funded and administered by their organisations. This prize, named in honour of the distinguished writer, broadcaster, and media consultant Eugenia Abu, aims to celebrate outstanding creative nonfiction from writers worldwide, highlighting voices that challenge, inspire, and/or provide deep insights into the human experience.
It is also supported by an endowment from Dr. Victor Oladokun, Senior Advisor to the President for Communication and Stakeholder Engagement, African Development Bank Group, and some anonymous patrons.
The Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE International Prize for Creative Nonfiction is a key component of the SEVHAGE Literary Prizes 2024, which also includes categories for Fiction and Critical Essays. Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi, multiple award-winning multi-genre writer, scholar, Professor of Broadcast Media and former Vice Chancellor of the Dominican University Ibadan, will serve as the Chief Judge for this year’s prizes, ensuring the selection of the highest-quality entries.
Submissions for the Eugenia Abu/SEVHAGE International Prize for Creative Nonfiction are currently open and will close at 23:59 WAT on 29th August 2024.
The competition is open to writers globally and is free to enter. The winner will receive a prize of ₦750,000 and have their work published, with additional opportunities for other shortlisted entries. Furthermore, portions of their work will be featured in an exhibition in Nottingham, England, as part of the SEVHAGE Festival. Detailed submission guidelines can be found on the SEVHAGE website at www.sevhage.com/prizes.
“We are honoured to dedicate this year’s Creative Nonfiction Prize to Eugenia Abu, better known as one of Nigeria’s cherished broadcasters, an award-winning author and an outstanding mentor,” said Su’ur Su’eddie Vershima Agema, an award-winning writer, Executive Director and President of SEVHAGE.
“Mrs. Abu holds a special place in many of our hearts. It was always a delight to watch her on TV and, for me personally, to learn from her guidance at different points. She is a once-in-a-lifetime figure, and we are blessed to have her in our lives. Inspired by her life, and rich legacy across fields, we are excited to celebrate nonfiction works that resonate with readers locally and globally.”
Eugenia Abu is one of Nigeria’s frontline Broadcast Journalists winning several awards in the field including the prestigious NMMA Best Newscaster of the year in 1995. She is one of Nigeria’s most recognisable faces. She anchored the NTA flagship network news for 17 years and retired from active public service at the top of her career as Executive Director, programmes having served meritoriously for 34 years. Eugenia Abu is a visiting consultant at Bingham University and a council member of Veritas University. She is a judge on the National Maltina Teachers Award and the OFAB Media Award. Eugenia is also a member of the National Media Complaints Commission and a board member of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development as well as Trust TV. She has consulted for several national and international organisations including UN Women, ILO, ECOWAS, NEDC and Trust TV among others.
A Multimedia Strategist, Media Consultant, Columnist, and Author, she is a much sought-after Compere and high-level Moderator and Facilitator at home and abroad and was the compere at the inauguration of President Yar’adua and President Jonathan. She also compered the inaugural dinner of President Buhari. Only recently she anchored the 2023 Presidential inauguration Lecture and the Presidential inaugural ball for President Tinubu. She is the Managing Partner/CEO of The Eugenia Abu Media.
She is the author of two books, In the Blink of an Eye (a collection of essays) which won the ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa Prize for Best Women’s Writing and Don’t Look at Me Like That (a poetry collection). Eugenia wrote weekly columns for the national newspaper, Sunday Trust for a decade, and for over a decade, has written for the national newspaper, BusinessDay.
The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes are a series of annual literary and art awards organized by the SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers (a branch of SEVHAGE Integrated Services Ltd) in collaboration with various partners. They are open to Africans and other writers globally. Since its inception in its current form in 2019, the Prizes aim to recognize and celebrate the outstanding contributions of African creatives across various categories, including poetry, prose, spoken word, drama, dance, and general writing.
Submissions are annually reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges, including established writers, editors, and literary critics. The shortlist and final announcement of winners for the awards will be announced in the final quarter of 2024.
Eugenia Abu is one of Nigeria’s cherished Broadcast journalists who has won several awards including the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award for Best Newscaster of the Year in 1995. She is easily one of Nigeria’s most recognisable faces and anchored the National Television News for seventeen years. Eugenia rose to the top of her career at the Nigerian Television Authority becoming Executive Director (Programmes) and retired after thirty-four years of meritorious service.
She started writing at seven and has grown to master her craft across genres including poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and screenplays. In 2008, Eugenia was invited by Nigerians in Western Australia to deliver that year’s Independence Anniversary lecture and was voted Nigeria’s Most Inspiring Woman in 2013 in an online survey conducted by the fabric manufacturer, VLISCO. She won the Association of Nigerian Authors/NDDC Flora Nwapa Prize for Best Female Writing in 2008 and continues to win hearts with her amazing work and amiable personality.
Eugenia is a 1981 graduate of English from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and has a Masters in Communication Policy Studies from the City University London in 1991, graduating with distinction. She also has a Masters in Creative Writing (2011) from Keele University, Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. She has certificates in Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling and TV presentation.
An alumna of the Chevening Scholarship and a USIS fellow, Eugenia Abu is currently the CEO and Managing Partner of her eponymous brand, The Eugenia Abu Media (TEAM). TEAM’s Media Centre has successfully conducted a series of masterclasses on public speaking, customer service, broadcasting, report and proposal writing, leadership, and creative writing. These masterclasses address identified gaps in these areas and are aimed at top-level executives and management staff. The sessions feature some of the best resource persons in their fields, including Mrs. Abu herself. In 2018, she established the Eugenia Abu Media Centre, a reading and mentorship hub for young Nigerian creatives, through which she has mentored over 500 youths.
In a similar vein and in the mould of her belief in mentorship as the unexplored key to fast-tracking human development on the African continent, Eugenia founded The Treasured Writers (TTW) in 2007. TTW, one of Abuja’s premier annual summer creative writing boot camps, is designed for children aged 7-14. Mrs. Abu, along with other engaging facilitators and guests including award-winning authors, artists, actors and entertainers, dedicate a week to helping the children enhance their writing and creative skills.
Eugenia has attended several international conferences across the world and has served on several national and International bodies including the National Human Rights Commission, the Lagos State Innovative Council, ThisDay Editorial Board and Nigeria’s Vision 2020 Technical Committee on Media. She was a faculty member of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism. She recently joined the boards of Savannah Centre for Democracy, Development and Democracy and Trust TV.
Eugenia has consulted for organizations such as the International Labour Organization, the United Nations, and Justice for All, among others. She is a Faculty Member at the Africa Center for Leadership, Strategy, and Development (Centre LSD) and a visiting consultant at Bingham University, where she teaches international broadcasting and specialised reporting.
Additionally, she consults for the National Democratic Institute on women and the media, for ECOWAS on media and peacebuilding during elections, and for the NeXT CEO Summit in Mauritius. Eugenia is also a judge for the National Maltina Teacher’s Award.
Throughout her distinguished career, Eugenia has interviewed prominent figures, including Presidents and Nobel laureates. Her portfolio features interviews with President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, President Obasanjo, President Yoweri Museveni, Professor Wole Soyinka, and Nadine Gordimer, among many others.
Mrs. Abu has established herself as a highly sought-after national and international compere and moderator. She served as the Master of Ceremony for the inaugurations of Presidents Yar’adua and Jonathan and was the national compere for President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration dinner in 2019. She was also the national compere for the Presidential inaugural ball for President Tinubu.
She lives in Abuja with her family.
THE SEVHAGE LITERARY PRIZES
The SEVHAGE Literary Prizes are a group of annual literary and art prizes organized by SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers (a subset of SEVHAGE Integrated Services Ltd) in collaboration with various partners, open to Africans and other writers globally. Initiated in its current format in 2019, the Prizes aim to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions of African creatives across various categories including poetry, prose, spoken word, drama, dancing, and general writing. The Prizes succeed various other awards established and independently administered and funded by SEVHAGE on an annual basis since 2013.
Past winners and runners-up of the prizes have included [POETRY] Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Adedayo Agarau, Pamilerin Jacob; Adenle Iyanuoluwa Deborah, Osi Stanley Chijioke; [SPOKEN WORD] Abbas Suleiman, Hafsat Abdullahi, Younglan Talyoung, and Elizabeth KJ Umoru; [PROSE] Ebuka Prince Okoroafor, Hajaarh Muhammad Bashar, and Olaposi Washington Halim; [CREATIVE NON-FICTION) Odueso Oluwatimilehin Charles, David Iruoje, Samuel Amazing Ayoade, and Nguher Terungwa James.
The judges for the 2024 edition of the prizes are chaired by Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi, multiple award-winning multi-genre writer, scholar, Professor of Broadcast Media and former Vice Chancellor of the Dominican University Ibadan.
