Five winners emerge in Ecuador-Nigeria writing contest

Five winners have emerged from the Ecuador-Nigeria Young Writers Short Story contest which held under the banner of the Abuja Writers’ Forum, AWF and the Ecuadorian government.

The writers include Jude Valentine Badaki,Tunde Ososanya, Harry Nzube Nlebedim, Blessing Akinsehinwa and Jojo Altine Elhassan.

At the June 24 Guest Writer Session, Leopold Verdosoto, the First Ambassador of Ecuador to Nigeria, had announced the sponsorship of the Short Story Contest for young writers from Ecuador and Nigeria. The winners were to be published in a bilingual publication (English and Spanish).

Subsequently, an announcement was made for entries from young Nigerian writers. Although the time frame was relatively short, there was an appreciable response from all over the country, a statement by Edith Yassin, Public Relations Officer, AWF, on Tuesday noted.

According to the statement, the judges were given blind copies of all the entries, in other words without the names of the writers. After careful deliberation, the following entries were adjudged the top five:

1st Wellington Street – Tunde Ososanya

2nd Canvas of Colours – Jude Valentine Badaki

3rd The Tale of ‘Alvine’ Chike – Nzube Harry Nlebedim

4th On The Shores of Death – Blessing Akinsehinwa

5th Killing Me Softly – Jojo Altine ElHassan

The statement also gave an insight into the winners.

Tunde Ososanya is a graduate of Mass Communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos. He is 27 years, and he hails from Ijebu Ode in Ogun State. He lives in Lagos where he writes full-time. He was a participant of the 2015 ANA/Yusuf Ali Creative Writing Workshop in Abuja. In 2016, he published an eBook version of his debut book – a collection of short stories – titled Later Tonight. He is currently working on another collection of short stories.

Jude Valentine Badaki is a Nigerian writer born on April 18,1976. He has published in a number of anthologies, journals and literary websites. He holds a BA in English, Professional Diploma in Education (PDE ), and MA in English for Specific Purposes(ESP).

Harry Nzube Nlebedim is a 22-year-old student of English at the University of Lagos. He is a writer, teacher and occasional poet, he has written several short stories and two novellas. He was born in Abia state and grew up in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. He writes fiction. He is the third of seven children, and he enjoys teaching, reading and writing.

Blessing Akinsehinwa is legal practitioner, certified arbitrator, blogger and a freelance creative writer based in Abuja, Nigeria. His advocacy articles and short stories have been published on many online and print news platforms within and outside Nigeria. He runs a blog kremlinkidd.wordpress.comon which some of his works can be found. He is also a member of professional bodies such as the Nigerian Bar Association, Young ICCA and the Abuja Literary Society.

Jojo Altine Elhassan was born and raised in Nigeria. She holds a Masters degree in Environment and Sustainable Development from the University College London and a Bachelors in Surveying from the University of Wolverhampton. Her writing muse reared her head in 2009, vanished and resurfaced to embrace her with a grip stronger than wine after a Writing Workshop at Abuja Writers Forum. She is working on her debut novel, Down the Corridor. She lives in Abuja with her mind, laptops and receding fingerprints.

”The judges for the entries were Professor Zaynab Alkali, Friday Ejilogo and George Bala. We thank the judges for a job well done. We are also very grateful to Ambassador Mr Leopold Verdosoto for the sponsorship,” the statement added.