Witsprouts Project Opened Storytelling Prize Nominations
The second annual competition is now accepting entries from storytellers across Africa and the African diaspora.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Scholarships
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The Witsprouts Project opened nominations for its second annual storytelling prize on August 10, 2026. The competition seeks to celebrate and support talent by offering a ₦500,000 cash award to the winner.
Why it matters
The prize aims to encourage and elevate storytellers by providing financial support and a platform for their work. It marks an expansion from the inaugural 2025 competition, which was limited strictly to Nigerian participants.
The prize carries a ₦500,000 cash award for the eventual winner. Nominations remain open until September 30, 2026, for storytellers based in Africa or the African diaspora.
The players
The Witsprouts Project
This organization operates initiatives dedicated to the preservation and promotion of storytelling and cultural heritage.
The details
The 2026 edition accepts submissions in any oral or multimedia format, a departure from the inaugural 2025 event that required specific five- to ten-minute video performances themed around rebooting legends and memories. Interested individuals can nominate themselves, friends, colleagues, or fans via an online form.
Timeline
August 10, 2026: The nomination window for the storytelling prize officially opened.
September 30, 2026: The final deadline to submit nominations for the competition.
Culture Shift
This prize reflects a broader cultural movement toward institutionalizing support for digital and oral creative arts across Africa. It marks a departure from localized funding models by embracing the wider reach of the African diaspora.
Participants can enter the competition or nominate peers through the project's online portal. The expansion of eligibility criteria allows a broader demographic of storytellers to access the cash prize and platform exposure.
The takeaway
The competition highlights how evolving award structures can foster greater cultural representation within the creative arts. Aspiring storytellers should focus on the submission guidelines to ensure their entries meet the project's multimedia standards.
Further reading
Learn more about opportunities in this field at the Scholarships section.
More information
Submit your entry or nominate a candidate using the storytelling prize nomination form.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News.
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