Dexter Loko Wins the 2026 Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature

Dexter Loko, a Nigerian-Irish writer, has won the 2026 Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature for his novel The Bako of Zereshé. The prize was presented on October 31 at the Association of Nigerian Authors' 45th Annual International Convention in Abuja, Leadership reported. ANA vice-president Obari Gomba, himself a prize-winning author, presented it. The prize comes with ₦1 million, sponsored by United Nigeria Airlines.

The winning novel

GrandTouch Press, a Lagos publisher, brought out The Bako of Zereshé in July 2026. Leadership describes it as a 170,000-word epic fantasy that draws on Nigerian history, culture and mythology and mixes them with magic, political intrigue and adventure.

The story follows Jeremy Fletcher, a young British journalist sent to Nigeria to cover the insurgency in the North-East. An accident leads him to Zereshé, an invented secret 37th state of Nigeria where magic is practised openly as part of daily life, and what starts as a reporting assignment turns into a struggle between good and evil.

It is Loko's second book. His first, a collection of 15 short stories called The Day the Sun Vanished, was independently published in November 2023. Loko was born in Nigeria and lives in Ireland. Leadership's report says he credits his upbringing, Nigerian storytelling traditions and a large home library kept by his parents for his interest in literature. The paper also notes that fantasy remains comparatively underrepresented among the country's literary prize winners.

The shortlist

ANA named three books on the shortlist ahead of the convention. In a statement reported by New Citizen, ANA president Usman Oladipo Akanbi and acting general secretary Wole Adedoyin listed Loko's novel alongside No Place Like Home by Henry Akubuiro and Chikoba by Uzozie Nmezi. Besides the cash, the winner receives a plaque and a certificate.

The prize, set up in 2021, recognises excellence in Nigerian fiction. This is its sixth edition. Earlier winners were Obinna Ndenwe for Colours of Hatred in 2021, Sylva Nze Ifedigbo for Believers and Hustlers in 2022, Nikė Campbell for Saro in 2023, Ifeoma Chinwuba for Sons of the East in 2024 and Ndidi Chiazor Enenmor for See Morocco, See Spain in 2025.

ANA said United Nigeria Airlines has committed ₦10 million toward prize money and administrative costs for the 2026 to 2030 editions.

An association Achebe founded

The prize carries the name of the association's founder. According to ANA's own history, the Association of Nigerian Authors was founded on June 27, 1981, at a conference convened by Chinua Achebe at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

This year's convention, ANA's 45th, ran from October 29 to November 1 at the Mamman Vatsa Writers' Village in Abuja under the theme "Literature, National Security, and the Place of Nigeria in the World." The association said the four days would include speeches, literary performances, panel discussions, workshops and an awards dinner.