As part of efforts to propagate literary culture in Imo State and the South East, Ngiga Book Club has announced the launch of a literary prize in honour of Dr Alex Otti.
This was made known at a book reading organised by the literary organisation recently in Owerri, Imo State capital, where literary rising star, Nnamdi Oguike, was special guest.
Oguike, who is winner of the 2019 Miles Morland Scholarship for African Writing, read from his debut collection, Do Not Say It’s Not Your Country, to the applause of the audience of youths from Owerri and environs.
The Ngiga/Alex Otti Prize, according to Ifesinachi Nwadike, the co-founder AND president of the book club, is aimed at encouraging young writers and literary enthusiasts. It is also a recognition of the salient contributions of Dr Alex Otti to the promotion of literacy and creativity, especially in the South East.
Explaining the motivation for the prize, he noted that there was urgent need to make modest effort to spur the budding literary culture in the South East, as there is hardly any such gesture on ground. He commended the sacrifice of individuals as Dr Alex Otti while also heaping encomiums on Nnamdi Oguike and his publishers, GriotsLounge Publishing, for putting Imo State on the African literary map.
