African literati are rooting for Ngugi as Nobel winner emerges today

BOBOJAY October 05, 2017 0

Feelers emerging from the Swedish Academy indicate that it will announce the winner of the 110th Nobel Prize for Literature today

Last year, American singer and songwriter, Bob Dylan, was awarded the prize and thus became the second songwriter to win it, 103 years after Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, emerged winner in 1913.

For daring to break from convention by naming another songwriter as the 2016 laureate, the academy was severely criticised and hailed all over the globe. It was also accused of ‘polluting’ the prize, which was previously deemed the exclusive preserve of writers published in print.

The last few days have witnessed intense speculation about the likely winner of this year’s prize.

However, there is an indication that the Nobel committee received and approved applications from 195 candidates for the 2017 prize. The list of writers believed to be in contention for the prize include Kenyan author, Ngugi Wa Thiongo; Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood; Haruki Murakami from Japan and the South Korean, Ko Un, to name but a few.

For the second time running, some members of the African literati are rooting for Ngugi to win the literary prize this time. Several posts have appeared on the social media in the last few days from writers and well meaning individuals on the continent pledging their support to the author.

In one post on Facebook, Nigerian writer based in the United States, Okey Ndibe, wrote, “It’s high speculation season on the 2017 Nobel laureate for literature. One of my all-time favourite writers, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, is once more part of the conversation. My view: Ngugi is so accomplished the Nobel Prize should desire to win him.”

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