Ooreoluwa Agbede, a Lagos-based lawyer and writer, has won the 2026 Quramo Writers’ Prize for his unpublished manuscript, Four Months, winning a ₦2 million cash prize and a publishing deal with Quramo Publishing.
Announced during the 10th edition of the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest), held in Lagos, Agbede emerged first among 20 shortlisted writers in this year’s competition.
Structured in five movements, Ooreoluwa Agbede’s winning Four Months tracks the main character’s passage through grief as his life begins to fracture across Lagos, Abeokuta, and the intimate spaces of family, memory, and work after he is diagnosed with brain cancer with only four months left to live.
Agbede, who was previously longlisted in 2022, expressed his gratitude to Quramo Publishing, saying:
“There are times I go to bed at 2 or 3pm,” he said, thanking the judges and his fellow nominees. To my fellow shortlistees, I want to see everybody at the top.”
A Nigerian lawyer and writer whose work spans fiction, legal scholarship and newspaper commentary, Ooreoluwa O. Agbede holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lagos and attended the Nigerian Law School before being called to the Nigerian Bar. His writing has appeared in publications including The Nation, The Sun, P.M. News and Independent, while his literary work includes the short story “Come Sit With Me: The Funeral,” selected for publication by The Kalahari Review in 2026. He is also the author of Contours of Governance: Essays on Power, Law, and Social Dynamics in Nigeria, published in 2023.
The Quramo Writers’ Prize is an annual literary competition established by Quramo Publishing to recognise unpublished fiction manuscripts by emerging African writers. Previous winners include Samuel Monye in 2017, Michael Emmanuel in 2018, Vivian Onyekachi Ibe in 2019, Kadiri Alex in 2020, Akinnimi Akintomiwa Oluwaseun in 2021, Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim in 2022, Chiziterem Chijioke in 2023, Arthur Gabriel Yak in 2024, and Hubaidat Oyinkansola Ishola in 2025.
Congratulations, Ooreoluwa O. Agbede!
