2026 Quramo Prize: Nigerian Ooreoluwa Agbede awarded in Lagos for "Four Months"
Nigerian writer Ooreoluwa O. Agbede has won the 2026 Quramo Writers' Prize for his novel "Four Months," announced on October 2, 2026, in Lagos during the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest), held from October 1 to 3, reports The Lagos Review. The winner receives 2 million naira, and separate awards were presented to the second and third place finishers.
A novel in five movements
"Four Months" follows a man who is told by doctors that he has only four months left to live. Structured in five movements, the narrative moves him between Lagos and Abeokuta, navigating family, memory, and work. Agbede, who was already longlisted for the prize in 2022 for another text, explains that he drew on his own experience with the demands of salaried employment to craft his character.
Five finalists, several countries
Forty-six manuscripts from thirteen countries were submitted for this eighteenth edition. The winning novel outperformed "The Glass Between Us" by Jenny Kingsley Emem, "Kuroya" by Zimbabwean John Tantswanashe Banda, "Traces of a Dream" by Harilu Ali Musa, and "Tribe and Prejudice" by Chigozie Laurel Amarango. The jury was chaired for the first time by Ugonma Nduka-Nwosu, who praised the authors' ability to "observe, conceptualize," and take the reader where they did not expect to go, according to The Lagos Review. The festival is supported by the Nigerian publishing house Quramo and led by Gbemi Shasore.
Why these prizes matter
A prize awarded in Lagos, by an African jury, based on unpublished manuscripts, concretely changes an author's trajectory: it opens up publication, visibility, and legitimacy without going through Paris, London, or New York. For decades, the recognition of an African writer took place elsewhere, according to criteria forged elsewhere.
The continent's literature does not lack voices; it lacks structures capable of getting them read. In eighteen editions, the Quramo Prize has established itself as one of these structures: modest compared to major international prizes, but decisive for those it reveals.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
