The T.Y. Buratai Literary Initiative (TYBLI) Young Adult Literature Competition has released its list of writers from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The authors and works who were selected from 106 applicants to the prize this year include – Adoo Gyuur’s ‘Daughters of Ashes’ (North Central), Daniel Yohanna’s ‘A Boy From Far North’ (North East) and E.R. Umukoro’s ‘The Distortion of Hadassah’ (South South).

There is also Ikemefuna Chinenyeike Ezemagu’s ‘Garden of Gadget’ (South East), Sarah Yousouf’s ‘When The Road Curves’ (South West) and Yusrah Bashir Gaga’s ‘My Darkest Nightmares’ (North West).

Established in 2024, the prize is a culmination of TYBLI’s mission of fostering young adult literature in Nigeria through the promotion of young adult writing and authors.

The first edition of the prize saw winners from the six geopolitical zones win N250,000 each, and the grand prize winner took home N1 million. With its success last year, the prizes were increased to N500,000 for each geopolitical winner and a N1.5 million grand prize.

An initiative of the General T.Y. Buratai (retired), TYBLI is a not-for-profit organisation, dedicated to promoting literacy through the fostering of leisure reading among young Nigerians and in particular, the young adult literature, a genre of literature that is largely non-existent. This is done by placing free Book Boxes (containing 40 books spanning varied genres of writing) to schools and higher institution departments and the Young Adult Literature Competition.