It is the pleasure of the Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit) to recognise excellence, and to honour the finest voices published in our journal. Every calendar year, from 2024, the JAY Lit Prizes will award overall winners in three categories—“JAY Lit Prize for Poetry”, “JAY Lit Prize for Fiction”, and “JAY Lit Prize for Non-Fiction”.
Judging the Awards
The Awards are judged in three tiers.
The overall winners are selected from the shortlists by tier 1 judges—external guest judges who are reputable names and voices in all three award categories. For the inaugural JAY Lit Awards (2024), these tier 1 judges are S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema (Poetry), Makena Onjerika (Fiction), and Mubanga Kalimamukwento (Non-Fiction).
The shortlists are selected by tier 2 judges who whittle down individual longlists in their respective categories. The tier 2 judges are made up of JAY Lit category editors: Gabriel Awuah Mainoo (poetry), Deborah Oluniran-Adeniyi (Fiction), and Iruoma Chukwuemeka (Non-Fiction). Candidates who make it to the shortlists in all three categories will also automatically win the “JAY Lit Editor’s Choice Commendation”.
The longlists are determined by tier 3 judges made up of JAY Lit peer reviewers and guest editors. These judges nominate the best stories they read from any of the issues published in a calendar year. For the 2024 Awards, these judges are our peer reviewers, namely Tobi Ojenike, Aishat Adesanya, Bongiwe T. Maphosa, Anna Samwell, and Nneamaka Onochie, as well as JAY Lit Issue 8 guest editors, Martha Khoeses and Kaushar Edoo.
The longlists for the inaugural 2024 JAY Lit Awards are pulled from JAY Lit’s 2024 issues—Issue 6, published in January 2024; Issue 7, published in July 2024; and Issue 8, forthcoming on 7th December 2024. The longlists are as follows:
JAY Lit Prize for Poetry – 2024 Longlist
“The Architecture of Happiness” by Faith Brown (Issue 6)
“Lessons of Luck to an African Child” by Damian Carlton (Issue 6)
“iSango” by Shuwa (Issue 6)
“Four Incantations for the Earth” by Arikewusola Abdul Awal (Issue 7)
“State of Emergency” by Timi Sanni (Issue 7)
“Oil on Canvas (2024)” by Aman Bibi Gray (Issue 7)
“Three Deaths” by Salama Wainaina (Issue 8)
“A Kind of Strange People” by Magdalene Agweven (Issue 8)
“A Concept” by Lerise Johnson (Issue 8)
“Who We Are for the Sake of Our Mothers” by Aisha A. Bolaji (Issue 8)
JAY Lit Prize for Fiction – 2024 Longlist
“A Traveller’s Dilemma” by Mohammed Babajide Mohammed (Issue 6)
“AMEN” by Abiodun Awodele (Issue 6)
“RIP Revisited” by Jan Brümmer (Issue 6)
“Kesandu” by Mustapha Enesi (Issue 7)
“On the Path of the Lighthouse” by Adédoyin Àjàyí (Issue 7)
“One and the Same” by Olamide Shobowale (Issue 7)
“Mother Theresa” by Ekemini Pius (Issue 7)
“Welcome to Iya Mosun’s Midnight Club” by Chidera Nwume (Issue 8)
“A Knock on the Door” by Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo (Issue 8)
“Simmering, Slowly” by Victor Ola-Matthew (Issue 8)
JAY Lit Prize for Non-Fiction – 2024 Longlist
“Ignorance is Brit” by MaryAnn Ifeanacho (Issue 7)
“Now That You Are a Woman” by Evidence Egwuono Adjarho (Issue 7)
“The Darkness That Devoured Dawn” by Nwajesu Ekpenisi (Issue 8)
“The Palate” by Frank Njugi (Issue 8)
“Dancing to the Rhythm of a Funeral” by Great Opara (Issue 8)
Further Updates on the 2024 JAY Lit Awards
The shortlists will be announced on 18th December 2024, and the eventual winners will be made known ten days after on 28th December 2024.
Overall winners will share from a modest pool of prize money. All shortlistees will receive books and other rewards.
For support and enquiries, please email JAY Lit Managing Editor, Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim at ibrahim.ibrahim@jaylit.com
