Dr Okwudiri Anasiudu awarded final $10,000 NLNG Prize for literary criticism
LAGOS: In a ceremony on October 10th, academic and literary scholar Dr Okwudiri Anasiudu was awarded the $10,000 Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism. This award marks a significant milestone, as Dr Anasiudu is set to be the final recipient of this national honour for contributions to literary critique.
A lecturer and researcher at the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Anasiudu was recognised for a body of work that demonstrates innovative theoretical approaches to African and diasporic literature. His winning entries were:
• “Afropolitan Identity and Afrodiasporic Otherness in Selected African Novels”
• “Allegorical Conjectures in Helon Habila’s Measuring Time”
• “Mimetic Designs in Helon Habila’s Oil on Water”
His research focuses on the intersection of language, culture, and ideology, often drawing on African & Diasporic Literature, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and Cultural Linguistics. Dr Anasiudu has published extensively, with notable analyses of authors such as:
• Bessie Head, examining the linguistic construction of “Otherness” in Maru.
• Nnimmo Bassey, exploring the aesthetic imagination in poetry about the Niger Delta.
• Chimamanda N. Adichie investigates themes of trauma, identity, and diaspora in Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah.
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The panel also commended the other finalists for their exceptional submissions:
• Ekikereobong Aniekean Usoro, for essays on Igbo cosmology in Chigozie Obioma’s work, male privilege in Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia’s novel, and the politics of gender representation.
• Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, for exploring masculinity in Adichie’s *Purple Hibiscus*, agency in Tayeb Salih’s writing, and receptive masculinity in Achebe’s *Things Fall Apart*.
• Onyeka Ike, for analyses of war in Flora Nwapa and Adichie’s works, corruption in public office, and character archetypes linking Achebe’s Okonkwo to Adichie’s Eugene Achike.
In its final commendation, the panel praised all the entries, noting that the “published articles in both institutional and professional journals offered valuable insights into a wide range of novels. They explored diverse areas of human concern and deftly interrogated the selected works, offering interpretations and novel, concise findings.”
