The National President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr Usman Oladipo Akanbi, has said that it is common practice for literary prizes to charge entry fees as part of the registration process.
Akanbi’s response came following an inquiry by one of the association’s members on why writers have to pay N10,000 (3.3 percent of the prize money) entry fees to participate in a literary prize already endowed by the sponsor’s estate.
It would be recalled that last week, the association announced a new literary prize, the ANA/HRM Eze M.O Kanu Prize for Young Adult Literature. The prize sponsored by the estate of the deceased traditional ruler of Ezejie Autonomous Community of Arondizuogu in Ideato LGA of Imo State, will award a cash prize of N300,000 to the best young adult work annually.
However, the National President, , while noting that the payment of entry fees is a common practice seen around literary prizes, said the entry fee to be paid by each writer submitting to the Young Adult Literature category will be deployed strictly for administrative purposes, specifically for the engagement of the entry’s jurors.
The jurors comprise – author, cultural administrator, and Chairman T.Y Buratai Literary Initiative (TYBLI), Dr Lizzy Ben-Iheanacho; Award-winning children’s writer and author, Jide Ogunlana; and writer and editor, Sonnie Okoh.
“The entry fee is nothing to write about. It’s purely for administrative purposes, such as sending the entries to the judges. If more funds come from prominent individuals or corporate organisations, we will have many more prizes, and perhaps, there will be no need for entry fees”.
