The NPL-RBC Bookfest reaffirmed the role of The Nigerian Prize for Literature not only as a reward for excellence but as a platform for dialogue between writers and readers. It highlighted how Nigerian authors continue to challenge conventions, reimagine myths, and place African storytelling on the global stage
By Godwin Okondo
THE Nigerian Prize for Literature, in collaboration with the Rainbow Book Club on Sunday, September 21, 2025, held the NPL-RBC Bookfest webinar, an event dedicated to showcasing the three shortlisted prose works for this year’s edition of the prestigious literary award. The virtual gathering, streamed on Zoom, featured conversations with the shortlisted authors Oyin Olugbile, Chigozie Obioma, and Nikki May, whose novels Sanya, The Road to the Country and This Motherless Land respectively are competing for the USD$100,000 prize. However, Obioma didn’t make the webinar.
The webinar drew participants from across the globe, with audiences joining from Washington, US, Canada, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bonny Island, Gombe and many other cities. Attendees engaged actively with the authors, asking questions about characters, themes, and the writing process, underscoring the growing international interest in Nigerian literature.
The NPL-RBC Bookfest reaffirmed the role of The Nigerian Prize for Literature not only as a reward for excellence but as a platform for dialogue between writers and readers. It highlighted how Nigerian authors continue to challenge conventions, reimagine myths, and place African storytelling on the global stage.
The Bookfest opened with discussions that explored the themes, inspirations, and creative journeys behind the works. For May, This Motherless Land, is an opportunity to revisit history and turn it on its head. She explained that part of the inspiration came from England’s colonial past and its silence about the slave trade.
“Part of the house was built on the back of slave trade, but slaves are not really mentioned in the book, and there are certainly no black people in the book, and I thought it would be quite interesting to take that concept and move it to Nigeria, and make black people front and central,” she said, “and not only that, make black people the best, because Funke is the best of them.”
May added that her lead character Funke represents triumph and resilience, adding, “She’s the stone that the builders rejected but she became the head cornerstone. So I felt it was quite nice to top it on its head and use that. The other thing I love about Jane is that she uses wit and humor to poke holes at prejudice and privilege and I tried to do that as well.”
Reflecting on the title of her book, May revealed that The Motherless Land was not her initial choice, saying, “The original title was ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’, and I actually called the house in England the Ring intentionally. Characters have this habit of not doing what you want them to do. They have this habit of doing their own thing and not listening to a carefully constructed plot, and when I got to my first draft, I realized that I was writing a slightly different book from the book I thought I was writing.” She noted that the ghost of Funke’s mother refused to leave the pages, forcing the narrative to become a quest about motherhood and legacy. “It became a better title that encompassed everything I was trying to do in the book,” she said.
Olugbile, author of Sanya, which is her debut novel, described the experience of being shortlisted as surreal, saying, “For those who have read Sanya, the time when Sanya disappeared into that loop and then reemerged, I feel like I’m inside the loop. I just feel like someone is going to pinch me at some point. It has been a dream all along, but that’s how I feel. I wrote a book that people love for the first time and it’s so much encouragement.” Olugbile added that her children had become her proudest cheerleaders, noting, “When my children talk about it, they are like, ‘mom is an award-winning author.’ It’s actually an amazing thing.”
Olugbile revealed that a sequel to Sanya is almost ready and “it’s 90 percent done. The loop is the entire mystery to Sanya,” explaining that the protagonist represented more of an idea than an individual. “Sanya herself is more of an idea rather than an individual or a character, and the idea is what eventually brought the book. That loop that Sanya had to go into is like every rebirthing of anybody, for example, and you have to go into something and find yourself, whether it’s internal or external.”
Speaking on her bold decision to reinterpret Yoruba mythology by reimagining Sango as a young girl, Olugbile said it reflected her rebellious spirit. “The former title I had in mind for Sanya was ‘When the Gods Come to Play.’ Then when I was developing the storyline, the very first thing I wrote was the birth of Sanya, and Dada had already been born. Writing that, I was saying to myself that if at the end of the day Sanya or Sango is going to be betrayed by his brother, then let the brother from the beginning be seen as a really nice guy and someone who is taking care of him. Then, why did I turn a male god into a young girl? Not just a female, but a young girl, and it’s something that I feel like I should see from my own personality, I’m quite rebellious.”
She explained that her decision was also shaped by her experience as a student of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos, adding, “Something that I did quite often was that whenever it was time for exams, I would rather give my opinion about the topic rather than giving back what the lecturer had taught us, and that actually got me in trouble quite a number of times.” While she expected criticism for altering mythology, Olugbile confessed she was surprised by the reception, noting, “The idea for me was that I was going to use the book to have a global conversation on African storytelling, so I was expecting a lot of pushbacks. All I have been getting is that it is a wonderful story.”
May also spoke about how superstition and Nigerian customs shaped her storytelling, as she recalled her childhood in Lagos and experiences with traditional practices, saying, “I remember my grandmother putting charms in the house which freaked my mother out and scared her, and I also have this vivid memory when I was writing the book. A friend of ours died, unfortunately very young and his parents were not allowed to go to his funeral, and I remember finding it horrific and insensitive and I could not comprehend it, but it’s a Yoruba custom that parents should not bury their children.”
She explained that these elements gave her novel its dramatic edge, adding, “I’m Nigerian, so I like drama in my drama. I’ve watched my fair share of Nollywood movies and I like action, so I like to amp things up and I like to do dramatic effects, because I write to entertain. I want people to turn the page, gasp, cry, and feel all the feelings.”
Olugbile revealed that the most difficult part of her writing process was not the story itself but managing her role as a mother, as she said, “The most difficult part of my writing was being a mom. It’s not even the writing itself; it’s the fact that I’m a mother of young children, and I’ve got five of them, and I live in London. The difficult part is not in conceptualizing the story, it’s managing myself and putting pen to paper.”
She added that she saw herself more as a storyteller than as a writer: “The beauty of it is being able to put it into paper and drop it for the world to enjoy. The difficult part is actually sitting down and saying, ‘in the beginning,’ or how Sanya went into battle and started beating up people. You have to imagine it.” She explained that it took her between three and four years to complete Sanya, and it would take another two to three years for the sequel.
The session closed with remarks from Manager, Corporate Communications at NLNG, Ann-Marie Palmer-Ikuku, who emphasized the role of literature in shaping society and identity, noting, “The works just remind me of something timeless―stories. Stories connect us, challenge us, they make us laugh, think, and above all, they remind us of the humanity which we all share. But as we celebrate, let’s be real; there’s still a lot of work to do. Nigerian voices deserve a bigger spotlight on the global stage.”
Palmer-Ikuku highlighted that while the prize carries a monetary reward, its value lies in amplifying Nigerian voices, adding, “It is a USD$100,000 award, one of the biggest on the continent, but the prize is so much more than the money. It’s about creating a stage where Nigerian writers are heard, where their ideas travel across borders, and where Nigerian literature stands tall among the best in the world.”
- https://thearthubng.com/how-npl-rbc-bookfest-animated-global-literary-scene-as-audiences-took-on-finalists-in-webinar/