Literary prizes belong to the power structure: Elnathan John chats with Isidore Diala

Abstract

The reception of the work of the Nigerian writer Elnathan John has been enthusiastic. His work has found an outlet in Per Contra, ZAM Magazine, Hazlitt, Evergreen Review, The Economist, The Guardian, and The Chimurenga Chronic. John read sections of his then yet unpublished first novel Born on a Tuesday to enthralled audiences in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city; and on its publication, the novel has easily found its way into the reading list of many departments of English and Literary Studies in universities in Nigeria. John’s work has equally elicited a warm reception from the judges of many literary prizes. Twice shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, (in 2013 for the short story “Bayan Layi” and again in 2015 for the short story “Flying”) John was runner up for the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2016 for his first novel, Born on a Tuesday, and winner of a Betty Trask Award for the same novel in 2017. In this interview held at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany on 16 December 2019, John speaks on his recently published satire Be(coming) Nigerian: A Guide, the role of literary prizes, his future work, among many other issues of critical interest.