Dr. Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike - Winner of the 2020/2021 Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism

Dr. Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike has emerged as the winner of the 2020/2021 Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism at the public presentation of the Nigeria Prizes held on October 30 in Lagos, Nigeria. Dr. Umezurike was awarded the Prize for his critical essays: “Self publishing in the era of military rule in Nigeria, 1985-1999,” “Postcolonial Ogres in Ngugi wa Thiong’so’s Wizard of the Crow,” and “Land of Cemetery: Funereal Images in the Poetry of Musa Idris Okpanachi.”

Professor Olu Obafemi, speaking on behalf of the Nigeria Prize for Literature’s Advisory Board, commended Dr. Umezurike’s essays for their rigour, depth of analysis, and contributions to literary studies in Africa, especially in Nigeria. Professor Obafemi also praised Dr. Umezurike for rescuing “African and Nigerian imaginative works from their appellations in the West as mere anthropological materials.” The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism, currently valued at N1 million and instituted in 2012, is one of three prizes, including the Nigeria Prize for Literature and the Nigeria Prize for Science, sponsored annually by the Nigerian LNG (NLNG) to promote excellence in Nigerian literature and literary scholarship.

Dr. Umezurike, a recipient of the Inaugural Provost’s Postdoctoral Awards for Indigenous and Black Scholars, is working under the supervision of Dr. Clara Joseph (English department) at the University of Calgary