(PRLEAP.COM) Iroko Productions LLC announces call for entries for the 2nd Annual Olaudah Equiano Fiction Prize

July 11, 2006, Bay Shore, New York: Iroko Productions LLC today announces calls for entries for the second annual Olaudah Equiano Fiction Prize.

The $1000 prize is open to Africans living abroad. It is for an unpublished short story of 3000 to 5000 words that centers on the experiences of Africans abroad.

Entries for the second edition of the prize will be accepted from July 10, 2006 until September 30, 2006. Shortlisted candidates will be announced November 30, 2006. The winners will be announced on December 24, 2006.

All stories submitted for the first two years of the competition will be considered for publication in an anthology of short fiction devoted to new voices of Africans abroad slated for publication in the spring of 2007.

The judges for this year’s competition are Okey Ndibe of Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Wale Adebanwi, a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar at the Cambridge University, England, and Obiwu, Director, The Writing Center, Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio.

According to Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo, the CEO of Iroko Productions LLC, “The first response to Equiano Prize was excellent. This year, we intend to take the competition to a new height so that by next year an elegant award ceremony will become part of the event.”

Last year’s prize was won by Chielozona Eze, an assistant professor of postcolonial and Anglophone African literature at Northeastern Illinois University for his short story, “Lessons in German.”

The second prize went to Anietie Isong for his story, “How Great Thou Art.” The $300 2nd prize is endowed by Dr. Chuma Osakwe in the memory of his late father, Chief S. B. C Osakwe.

The 3rd prize of $100 went to Chika Unigwe for her story, “Confetti, Glitter, and Ash.”

Iroko Productions LLC is the publisher of Children of A Retired God by Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo. Production works on the film The Last African Virgin is slated to start in the spring of 2007.

For detailed guideline on Equiano Prize, please visit www.equianoprize.blogspot.com 

Contact Information: Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
Email: Rudolf@irokoproductions.com
Phone: 617-697-1733