The First Pages Prize unveils its 2024 longlist in creative nonfiction and fiction, celebrating the year’s most compelling literary voices. From over 22 submissions selected for the 2024 longlist in Fiction, Nigerian writers Frances and Amara Okolo stood out for their exceptional writing and creativity.
- The Further by Frances Ogamba
- All Our Beautiful Lives by Amara Okolo
Frances Ogamba is a 2024 Jacobson Scholar at the Hawkinson Foundation for Peace and Justice. Her writing has received support from the 2024 Walter H. Judd Travel fellowship, the 2024 COGS Research Grant, and the 2022 College of Liberal Arts fellowship at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She was JAY Lit‘s Spotlight writer for June 2024.
Amara Okolo is a Nigerian writer and author of Black Sparkle Romance, Son of Man, and Daughters of Salt. Her works have appeared on Joyland, The Forge Literary, Chestnut Review, A LongHouse, Catapult, WeTransfer. She lives in Maryland where she is finishing up PhD and her novel(s).
The First Pages Prize was created five years ago in collaboration with the Stockholm Writers Festival. In 2020 the prize became its own nonprofit entity with the mission to discover, recognize and encourage emerging voices through the annual First Pages Prize award.
See the full list of all longlisted authors and their works here.
Congratulations Frances and Amara!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
