Nigerian Writers That Made Us Proud in 2026

It has been a year of firsts, doubled prize purses and Nigerian names on international panels. From a London judging table to an Abuja awards dinner, from a Helsinki book launch to a Lagos festival stage, This is the first part of a two part series of writers whose 2026 gave the rest of us something to cheer about.

Taking Nigerian writing to the world

Theresa Lola: a seat on the Women’s Prize jury

British-Nigerian poet Theresa Lola, born in Lagos and raised in London from age thirteen, has been named to the 2027 Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel. Scholar and critic Merve Emre chairs, with Charlotte Collins, Esther Freud and Eimear McBride alongside Lola. The panel will pick a sixteen-book longlist (announced 10 March 2027), a six-book shortlist (28 April) and a winner on 17 June, who takes home £30,000 and a bronze statuette called the “Bessie”.Lola’s standing was already established. Her second collection, Ceremony for the Nameless, draws on Yoruba naming ceremonies to explore belonging and dual Nigerian-British identity. It was named joint winner of the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry in October 2025, and this year she was longlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature. Her debut, In Search of Equilibrium, came out in 2019, the year she became Young People’s Laureate for London.

Itoro Bassey: a Get the Word Out fellowship

Nigerian American author and journalist Nigerian American author and journalist Itoro Bassey is one of ten writers selected for Poets & Writers’ 2026 Get the Word Out fiction cohort, announced on 15 September. The free, twelve-week programme pairs early-career authors with publicist May-Zhee Lim to build publicity plans around their first or second books.Bassey’s forthcoming story collection, Ajébutter Women, won the 2024 W.S. Porter Prize and will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2027, with an African edition planned by Paperworth Books. Her fiction looks at the tension between what society expects of African women and daughters and who they are, across family, class, migration and belonging. Her work has appeared in Literary Hub, Callaloo, Brittle Paper, Prairie Schooner and Hippocampus, and she is a former BBC producer.

Yinka Olatunbosun: an international debut in Helsinki

Veteran arts journalist Yinka Olatunbosun, Assistant Editor of THISDAY Style, launched her short-story chapbook The Letter Grandma Left and Other Stories in Helsinki during the fair held 22 to 26 October. It is her international literary debut. The six stories, edited by Olasunmbo Olajubu, are set in cities around the world and deal with love, stigma and mental health. The title story quietly takes on the stigma faced by children living with autism. Olatunbosun designed the slim book to support a read-a-book-a-day habit, and says Nordic distributors showed interest at the launch. Print copies will be available on demand in Nigeria and elsewhere, with an Amazon release to follow.

Jerry Chiemeke: shortlisted for Writing Excellence

Writer, music journalist, film critic and lawyer Jerry Chiemeke is shortlisted in the Writing Excellence category of the 2026 UK Black Comms Network Trailblazer Awards, now in their second edition. He is up against Chioma Nnadi, Funmi Fetto, L’oreal Blackett, Nicole Vassell and Sinai Fleary. Winners will be announced on 25 February 2027 at Kindred in London.Chiemeke won the 2017 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Reviews, was shortlisted for the 2019 Diana Woods Memorial Award for Creative Nonfiction, and published the story collection Dreaming of Ways to Understand You in 2020. He is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Press and Talents Durban.

Winning at home

Ooreoluwa O. Agbede wins the ₦2,000,000 Quramo Writers’ Prize

Lagos-based lawyer and writer Ooreoluwa O. Agbede won the 2026 Quramo Writers’ Prize for his unpublished manuscript Four Months, announced on 2 October at the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) in Lagos. The prize marked its tenth year by doubling its purse from ₦1 million to ₦2 million, and Agbede also gets a publishing deal with Quramo Publishing, which holds first refusal on his second book.Four Months follows a man whose life unravels across Lagos, Abeokuta, family, memory and work after a brain cancer diagnosis and a four-month prognosis. It is told in five movements. Agbede was longlisted for the same prize in 2022, so this win was four years in the making. He has written commentary for national newspapers including The Nation, The Sun, PM News and The Independent.