Two Nigerians Shortlisted for Golden Baobab Prizes by Dave Agboola

Congratulations to Philip Begho and Fego Martins Ahia, the two Nigerian writers who have made it to the last eight of this year's Golden Baobab Prizes! Begho is nominated in the Picture Books category for The Princess with a Golden Voice, while Martins Ahia is in the running to win the Prize for Rising Writers for his story "The Little Secret". Philip Begho is an award-winning author who has published over a hundred books, including the critically acclaimed Jelly Baby(a novel about boy soldiers), Songbird, and Penny for an Orphan. Fego Martins Ahia was born in Lagos in 1995. He has been shortlisted twice for the Litro/IGGY International Short Story Award, received a bronze essay award from the Royal Commonwealth Society, and won the inaugural Ugreen Foundation Short Story Prize. He is also the youngest Nigerian to be shortlisted for a literary award. The Golden Baobab Prizes, now in their fifth year, were set up to find the very best writers of African children’s literature. The Golden Baobab is a non-profit organisation based in Ghana which wants “anyone to walk into a bookstore anywhere in the world ten years from now and find stellar African children’s literature on the shelves.” The winners of the prizes will be announced on November 13. Details on this year's Golden Baobab Prizes and the other shortlisted African children’s writers can be found here. Good luck to all!