OkadaBooks, Nigeria’s top e-publishing platform, has announced the call for entries to the Campus Writing Challenge, sponsored by Union Bank, one of Nigeria’s long standing and most respected financial institutions.
The Campus Writing Challenge, which is focused on discovering students with raw, bold and creative writing talents, is open to students of tertiary institutions across Nigeria and is aimed at providing them with the necessary exposure to hone their craft and become master storytellers.
During the entry period that spans from Monday, August 27 to Sunday, October 7, 2018, students are invited to visit this page to submit short stories with a word count of between 3,000 and 5,000, to stand a chance of winning great prizes.
The winning entry will receive a cash prize of N500,000 with the second and third best entries winning N200,000 and N100,000 respectively. There will also be a mini award category, including a N50,000 prize for the best designed short story cover as well as an ‘audience favourite’ award and several other consolation prizes.
Best of all, the winning and short-listed works will be forwarded to leading publishing houses in Nigeria for a chance to get published, in a bid to help jumpstart the writing careers of these students and possibly discover the next Chinua Achebe.
The panel of judges for the competition includes Chika Unigwe – author, facilitator of Awake Creative Trust and winner of the 2003 BBC Short Story Competition; and Abubakar Ibrahim Adam, creative writer and winner of the 2016 Nigeria Prize for Literature award.
Remember, participants must be undergraduates of any of the Nigerian tertiary institutions as at the entry deadline to be eligible for the competition.
So go ahead and submit that short story for a chance to ‘Rep your school’. Who wins the grand prize? Will it be University of Ilorin or Imo State University or maybe University of Maiduguri?
Don’t be left behind, click here to get started!
Popular questions (about the contest) have been answered here
This is a great news and a welcome development.I am interested to take up this writing challenge
This is a great news and a welcome development.I am interested in this writing challenge.
Great!
I AM AWAITING NYSC… AM I SEEN AS A STUDENT TO PARTICIPATE PLEASE? THANKS. GOOD DAY.
Hello,
Unfortunately, this contest is open to only undergraduates who are still in school.
What format are we required to submit the short story in?
Hi,
You can write your story on the website or just copy and paste it into the editor.
pls can secondary student write story because i wish to write pls
Hello,
Only undergraduates in tertiary institutions can apply.
Hi!
Are we to choose the title ourselves or you’ll choose for us?
Hi,
You are to choose your title yourself. Don’t forget to include #CampusChallenge beside it.
I am on my compulsory one year IT programme from a federal Polytechnic.
Am I qualified to contest?
If you mean NYSC, then unfortunately, you are not qualified.
But if you are still a student and on IT, yes, you can.
I just finished secondary school and I’m not going to university until next year. Does this I’m not eligible ?
Yes, you are not eligible.
Please sir, is there any story writing contest for those that have just rounded off their national service. My pen is bleeding seriously. I want to write, that’s the only cure for my bleeding pen.
Please reply.
Hello,
Yes there is. Check our Instagram page.
Wow I’m interested and I’ll submit it soon.
This is a great opportunity for young writers to prove themselves. It is very encouraging, thanks for this great opportunity.
I just discovered okada books yesterday and I would really have loved to participate in this campus contest. Sadly the submission date is passed.
Is there anything I can do?
Hello Ugorji,
Submissions are still on. They will end on the 7th of October. Please send in your entry; we are waiting!
I haven’t been able to upload my own cover for the short story that I have designed. how do I upload it please? And how do I write my own story on the website? is it with the epub?
Hello,
There are two options in the process of publishing your story: UPLOAD EPUB and CREATE EPUB.
Click on CREATE EPUB, and you will be able to simply copy and paste your story there.
How can I get the book half of the yellow son
Hello,
You can get it here: https://okadabooks.com/book/about/half_of_a_yellow_sun__cna/20284
I read through the instructions, I was wondering if vulgar is allowed.
No, it isn’t. The targeted audience is young adults and vulgarity is not acceptable.
I can’t find where the content of the story will be pasted.
Hello Joe,
When you visit the submission page, scroll to the bottom, click on CREATE EPUB and you can paste your story there. See the screenshot below:
Hello
Please is there specified categories for the competition or we can just write under any??
Hello Abiola,
The main genre is fiction, which covers sub-genres like Romance, adventure, sci-fic, etc.
The whole process of submission is tiring, are we submitting this in PDF
Hi Victor,
You can type your story in a notepad or a word document. Afterwards, go the submission page, click on CREATE EPUB, copy and paste your story there.
Okay, the word count limit is 500 words. Can it be a little more than that?
It’s actually 5,000 words.
It cannot surpass this word count. I’d suggest that you truncate some paragraphs in your story if it is beyond this word limit.
Is it compulsory to choose a cover page for our story or a title is enough.
There’s an additional ₦50,000 price for the best book cover. I’d advice that you work towards bagging that too.
Hi. Can we add glossary, and dedication to the stories submitted for the short story challenge?
Yes, you can
Can those in final year participate?
Hello Clara,
Yes, they can.
HELLO CAN OUR STORY BE LESS THAN 5000 WORDS BUT MORE THAN 3000
Hi Glory,
Absolutely!
I submitted my work and the submission word count is 5125 while on my word application software it was 4885. Should I ignore this? I won’t like to be disqualified for this.
Hello,
Please ignore the word count on the website. It’s a bug that’s currently being fixed.
Thank you for submitting your entry, and good luck!
Are there rules?
Hello,
See here for information and rules concerning this contest:
https://www.unionbankng.com/writingchallenge/
Please am I required time do any formal registration with okadabooks before I can submit my work or just to write and submit
Yes, you’ll need to register on the website
Are we allowed to write plays?
Hi,
Only prose please
Hi, I am a postgraduate student. Am I eligible to participate in the contest. If I can’t, is there any ongoing contest for PG students? Thanks. Anticipating your response!
Hello Emmanuel,
Unfortunately, PG students cannot participate. Check us out on Instagram @Okadabooks, we have a lot of contests going on there.
Hi
I am done with my exams as a final year student but we haven’t been inducted. Do I count for an undergraduate?
Yes, you can. You’d still be regarded as a 400 level student anyway.
Am still waiting for admission can I participate
Unfortunately, you need to be enrolled in a school
I wrote a drama will my entry will affected?
Hello,
By “Drama”, do you mean a play?
Yes
Unfortunately, the approved writing style is prose.
It’s not too late; you already have a storyline. Just transform the play into a prose.
are we allowed to write in chapters and is broken English and native languages allowed?
Yes, yes, yes!
thank you
If we are to register on the website before submission, how are we to do it
Visit https://okadabooks.com/sign-up
please I just found this out today.. please I would want to participate in this. I’m I supposed to apply before writing or after writing..
after registration, am I supposed to do anything before submission of the write up.
No. Just publish your story
hi please can I add Nigerian language as in a word or two
Yes, you can
how do I know if my entry has been submitted? I posted mine this afternoon and I can’t find t on the site. please I need help
Hello, follow the image below.
If you do not find your story there,you will need to republish it
Hello!
I have made several attempts to publish my book and I’m getting a feed back message
“” FAILED TO PUBLISHE THIS BOOK “”
please what do I do?
And again,what should be filled in the space of “TAGS”?
To help you successfully publish your book,see this video:
https://youtu.be/yckH8W1mzb8
Tags should be things that relate to your book, like the genre; Romance, Thriller, etc
I can’t find my entry among the campus challenge entries list.
Hi Ade, what is the title of your story and author’s name?
Good evening. Please I want to know if there is any font type or size to use.
No. See how to upload your story:
How do we also paste the cover page. Is it also through the create EPUB?
Yes. See this video:
Good day, Thanks for your prompt response.
I am currently pursuing my second degree (In 300level currently). But I am done with my first degree( yet to go for service and yet to be awarded a degree certificate). Now do I qualify for the competition?
Yes, you can
does the cover include the front and back cover. and dose acknowledgement and dedication include in the word count?
No, just the front page
Hello i uploaded an epub but the cover page didnt show unless you open the ebup… does it matter???
No, it’s fine.
I submitted a story for the contest, but unfortunately, I needed to change one little thing. Can I republish the edited version and/or delete the first one?
Hello Ray,
You do not have to delete the old entry. Just simply edit it, make your changes and click on REPUBLISH. Use the photo below as a guide to edit your workv
Hello. My entry is not on the campus challenge list. I’m really worried. Please help.
Does it show up on “MY PUBLICATIONS”?
Hello, please must an entry receive a particular number of reviews or downloads before it can be judged? Or will an entry with zero reviews for example be judged?
All entries will be judged
Good evening, please I curious about the recommended cover page size, is a must?
Hello,
Book covers are not compulsory.
You can submit your entry without them.
Hi. I submitted my entry ‘Misconception #CampusChallenge’. The surprising thing is that I can find the book when I search for it, view the story description, buy it but when I go to ‘My Books’ to download it, it’s nowhere to be found. Does this disqualify me as the deadline is tomorrow? I have published and republished and republished and they were all successful.
Is it just a ‘me’ problem or it’s general? I already sent a message to your epub e-mail to help me create another epub file just in case it’s my epub file. Could you please help me confirm this so that I know where I stand? Looking forward to participate though.
Hello,
Your book was uploaded successfully. Sometimes, authors are unable to download their works.
You can ask a friend to download on their account to confirm.
Okay. Thanks.
Is my short story for the unionbank writing challenge uploaded successfully
Hello,
Please search for your story on the website or use the photo guide here:
I uploaded my story but I’m not seeing my name among the list
Can we still edit after the date for submission closes?
No, you cannot
This is one of the best campus writing contest if not the best… It simply means, creative writing is been giving consideration from the grass root to help identify,refine and define creative ideas and talents… I love this.