Secondary Schools in Sokoto state are invited to present their students for the second edition of the Book O’Clock Anniversary Prize and stand a chance of winning cash prizes, books, and trophies.
Every year for our anniversary, we organise a writing competition among secondary school students in Sokoto on a range of global issues. Last year, we asked students to write on the topic “If The President Could Read Me” an opportunity for them to contribute to the presidential agenda. This year, we are asking students to join us in using art to foster the least-focused aspect of SDG 3, “Health and Well-being:” Mental Health.
Tagged “What’s On Your Mind?“, it is a writing and performance
contest aimed at platforming teens and young adults and
encouraging their expressions.
Note on Theme: “What’s On Your Mind?”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in four Nigerians is estimated to be living with a mental disorder. Yet there remains an unhealthy culture of silence and reluctance surrounding mental health discourse in Nigeria. Researchers have identified several social issues that are responsible for this apathy. These include stigma from cultural and religious inclinations, limited access to mental healthcare, financial and economic problems, and most commonly, a lack of awareness. To this day, many Nigerians are not aware of the need for mental wellness, and they go about their business that way, adding to the statistics.
For teenagers and children, it is a more worrying scenario, especially in Nigeria, where the demography is not allowed agency and thus suffers in silence. A recent study by the WHO has shown that half of all mental health disorders in adulthood start by age 14, but most cases go undetected due to this lack of agency and avenues for expression. It is against this backdrop that, for our anniversary, we are asking children in our community to tell us what is on their minds through a writing and performance contest in their preferred genre.
Submission Guidelines
- Interested participants must be registered students of a secondary school in Sokoto, and they must represent themselves and their school.
- Schools are only allowed to have three representatives, and each rep can only make one submission. This means that each school gets three slots to enter for the prize.
- Interested student-writers are invited to express their thoughts and concerns on topics that matter to them through personal essays and/or stories between 500 and 1000 words.
- Schools are to send submissions as attachments to our email address: bookoclockreview@gmail.com in doc format, not PDF. The subject of the email should be Book O’clock Anniversary Prize + The Name of Your School.
- In the body of the email, please indicate how many submissions your school is making with the names, classes, and other necessary information of the student-writers. The identity cards of each of the students should be attached as well, or an official letterhead addressed to Book O’Clock confirming the studentship of the school’s representative(s).
- You will receive an email within 24 hours confirming receipt of your submission. If you don’t, please reach out to Book O’Clock.
Submission Deadline: April 29, 2024
Shortlist Announcement: May 15th, 2024
The shortlisted writers will then advance to the performance stage, where they will have to do a stage performance (through spoken words, public speech, or storytelling) on what they have written and be judged according to the standard performance parameters, after which the three top finalists are selected and awarded cash prizes, books and the winning schools get plaques, and much more. This will take place at the closing ceremony on June 4, 2024.
