Etisalat unveils flash fiction award ‘Top 50 stories’

Etisalat Nigeria has unveiled the Top 50 stories for the 2016 edition of its literary initiative, the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award.

The Top 50 stories were selected based on votes. Voting commenced November 7 and closed December 3, 2016. Prior to this stage, the call for entries for the Flash Fiction Award category had opened on September 1 and closed on October 14 this year.

The judges at this stage are required to vet the entries and choose the Top 3 finalists that will be announced January 11, 2017. The winner of the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award will thereafter be announced at the Grand Finale of the Etisalat Prize for Literature which will take place in March 2017.

Speaking about the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award and the milestones achieved so far, Head, Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, expressed delight at the interest and enthusiasm that this year’s edition of the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award has generated among writers and lovers of literature from across Africa.

“We feel elated that Etisalat has continued to provide platforms for African people to express their creativity and to celebrate our icons. With the interest and followership already generated by the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award, this stage is certainly getting more intense as we anxiously await the list of the three finalists to be chosen by the judges”, she said.

The panel of judges for the Flash Fiction Award includes Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Chair of Judges from Nigeria, Ndinda Kioko from Kenya, Odafe Atogun from Nigeria and Tendai Huchu from Zimbabwe.

The annual Etisalat Flash Fiction Award is open to all African writers of unpublished short stories, resident in any part of the world. Entries for the prize are submitted online and the short stories submitted do not exceed 300 words. Each year, the prize winner receives a cash prize of £1,000 while the two runners-up get £500 each in addition to mobile devices.

Modupe Ojuolape Kuti won the 2015 edition of the award for her short story ‘Gone’ while Jacqueline Uche Agweh and John Chidi, the two runners-up, were honoured for their stories, “Invincible” and “Madness in Degrees” respectively.