Ghana Writers Awards opens nomination for 2017 edition

Accra, April 17, GNA - Mr Kingsley Kojo Antwi, the Vice President Ghana Writers Awards (GWA) has on Monday, announced the opening of nominations for the second edition of awards with the introduction of two additional categories.

The additional categories include the Literature Blog, and Topic-Given Poetry contest, which seeks to expand the horizon to narrow in all unpublished writers in Ghana.

This brings this year categories to five with the previous three as Spoken Word, Short Story, Poetry (with substituting spoken word for flash fiction).

Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency, Mr Antwi said the nominations opened from April 14 would end on May 14 to make room for the judges to go through the submitted literary works.

According to him, the 2017 edition would be on the theme: 'My arts my life: creating more opportunities for the youth in the literary arts industry in Ghana.'

He said there would be non-competitive categories, which would target media houses, publishing houses, bookshops, and individuals who have contributed to the development and promotion of the Ghanaian literary arts industry.

Mr Antwi said: 'Unlike the maiden edition that had four judges for the contest, the 2017 edition will have 10 judges from three continents, who are experts in the…categories.'

He said there would be separate categories for students in Junior High School, Senior High School and tertiary levels.

According to the Vice President, the award is the only competitive literary prize instituted to recognize the role of unpublished Ghanaian fictional writers and other forms of the literary arts.

He said the prize was born out of the need to promote reading and writing in Ghana and by extension increasing the number of Ghanaian published writers.

Mr Antwi called on young writers especially unpublished to take hold of this opportunity to advance their writing carrier by sending an email to [email protected] for more information.

The GWA is a literary prize instituted by some young Ghanaian literary compatriots to celebrate and promote Ghanaian writers and literature.

GNA

By Julius K. Satsi, GNA