The Sprinng Women Authors Prize

- 2021

We congratulate Ukamaka Olisakwe, Author of Ogadinma, who is the winner of the 2021 Sprinng Women Authors Prize. 

We also congratulate Achalugo Chioma Ezekobe, Author of Mmirinzo, for emerging as the first runner-up, and Timi Waters, Author of Haven, for emerging as the second runner-up.

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Ukamaka Olisakwe grew up in Kano, Nigeria, and now lives in Vermillion, South Dakota.

In 2014, she was named one of the continent’s most promising writers under the age of 40 by the UNESCO World Book Capital for the Africa39 project. In 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in Writing at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program and was a resident fellow at the City of Asylum in Pittsburgh. In 2018, she won the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ Emerging Writer Scholarship. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Brittle Paper Award for Creative Nonfiction. In 2021, she won the SpringNG Women Authors Prize for her novel, Ogadinma. In 2022, she was named runner-up for the Gerald Kraak Prize.

A finalist for the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, her works have appeared in the New York Times, Granta, Guernica, Longreads, The Rumpus, Catapult, Google Arts & Culture, The Johannesburg Review of Books, and more.

Her books Ogadinma (2020) and Don’t Answer When They Call Your Name (2023). She is currently writing a TV series, Agoodjie, for Canal+ / StudioCanal.

She is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Isele Magazine.

First Runner-up

Second Runner-up

Achalugo Chioma Ezekobe is a Lawyer, as well as a consummate artist, whose expressions span the spectrum of writing, broadcasting, and producing. She has explored her storytelling via several mediums of expression - photography, film/TV, and stage. She is a culture enthusiast and infuses elements of this in her work, exploring old and evolving African beliefs and traditions. 
 
Her works have been shortlisted and awarded prizes, including Mr. Brother, 2nd runner up for the ANA prize for Drama, Boys on jumping trousers, 2nd runner up for Quramo Prize for Fiction. 
 
Achalugo attended Queens College Yaba, studied Law at the University of Lagos, obtained her B.L from the Nigerian Law school and a Professional Diploma in Advertising. 
 
Her debut novel – Mmirinzo: The Ones Who Are Rain, was released in 2020 by Winepress Publishing. She is the first female winner of the Beeta Prize for Playwriting after winning the third edition of the prize in 2020 for her play ‘Daughters of the East.’ Daughters of the East was published in 2021 by Paperworth Books. 
 
She lives in Lagos with her family, and often enjoys cheating the traffic riding her motorcycle. 

Timi Waters is a West African writer. Her love for psychology and thought-provoking books led her into asking questions, finding answers, and asking more questions.

While Haven is her first published work, Timi has written and published short stories which featured in international bestselling anthologies. Her eBooks, The Red Lines Trilogy topped OkadaBooks and Bambooks bestseller charts for weeks. When Timi is not writing, she’s poring over non-fiction and psychological thrillers, hosting tea parties with her characters, and lip-syncing to Nicki Minaj and Eminem’s rap. She currently lives in Lagos, Nigeria, with her husband and a shelf full of books.

The 2021 SWAP Judges

We are thankful to the SWAP 2021 Judges: Tomi Adesina, Roseline Mgbodichinma, Kemi Falodun, and Jakky Bankong-Obi, for their dedication and support in selecting the semi-finalists and winner of the second Sprinng Women Authors Prize.