Etisalat has unveiled the long list for the inaugural 2013 edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature, the first pan-Afrian prize set for the debut fiction writers of African citizenship.

Launched in June 2013, the maiden awards is poised to become one of Africa’s most prestigious literary prizes for African fiction and have this year selected top elites from Africa as judges.

The Chair of Judges will be professor Pumla Dineo Gqola; Professor at the University of Witwaterstrand ; writer and academic Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Managing Editor of Kwani Trust Billy Kahora.

“I have never been more in love with the range, depth and wonder that is literature by writers of my continent. There are some writers that I feel really privileged to have discovered through this Prize.” said Pumla Dineo Gqola.Speaking on the Longlist, Matthew Willsher, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria expressed that the list is unique in several respects and would go a long way in helping to accomplish the purpose of the Etisalat Prize for Literature. “The list of nominees is unique in that six of the nine finalists are books authored by women; five of the nine finalists are Nigerian citizens while the global perspective is covered by the fact that three of the nine publishers are non-African,” he said.The judges will now be faced with the next task of selecting a short list of three novels at a retreat in Morocco this January. The shortlisted writers who will have 1,000 copies of their books purchased by Etisalat and go on a multi-city sponsored tour will be announced on Wednesday, the 15th of January 2014.

The overall winner of the Etisalat Prize for Literature will receive £15,000, an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück and will attend an The Etisalat Fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia mentored by Professor Giles Foden, author of the Last King of Scotland. The winner will be announced at the Etisalat Prize for Literature Award Ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday, the 23rd of February 2014.