‘The Great Delusion’ shortlisted for ANA drama prize 2025
By Editor
THE Institute of Episteresurrecist Arts (IEA) is delighted that its flagship project, The Great Delusion, written by Majekodunmi Oseriemen Ebhohon, has been shortlisted in the Drama category of the prestigious Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Literary Prizes 2025. This was announced in a statement signed by the institute’s chairman, Mr. Charles Odibechi Nwajei.
The Great Delusion is an experiment in re-imagining how Black identity is represented in global storytelling. In its pages, the Black race withdraws its genius, labour, and inventions from the world, returning to Africa, their ancestral home. In that absence, White supremacy collapses, starved of the very Black ingenuity it exploited and enjoyed for centuries. This is a paradigm shift from the tropes of ‘trauma porn’, helplessness, and white-saviour narratives that dominate Hollywood depictions of Black lives. Instead, The Great Delusion envisions Africa as the centre of renewal—dignified, powerful, and envied by the world.
In its sweep, the play celebrates real-life Black inventors and thinkers—Imhotep, Lewis Latimer, Alexander Miles, Katherine Johnson, Marian Croak, Garrett Morgan, Dr. Charles Drew, Alice Parker, and countless others—who laid both the ancient and modern foundations of global civilization. In so doing, it provides Black children, long starved of true heroes who look like them, with Black figures of genius, courage, and achievement to honour and emulate.
Majekodunmi Ebhohon
At the IEA, we regard ANA’s recognition as a literary honour, and significantly, as an institutional affirmation of our cultural mission: to fan the embers of epistemic resurrection, insisting that Black stories be told with courage and dignity—not from the colonial middle where distortion began, but from the beginning—when Africa was cradle and crown. From Kush to Ife, from Kemet to Benin, from the wisdom of Timbuktu to the warriors of Dahomey, our archive brims with kings, queens, builders, and thinkers who predate the very histories that ruthlessly strive to erase our greatness. It is this untold abundance, not the scars of conquest, that must define the Black narrative.
We extend our deepest gratitude to all who have stood with the IEA, supported this journey, and continue to believe in the power of Black creativity as a tool for liberation.
We salute the leadership of ANA at both national and state levels, and the entire membership, for standing resolute these forty-four years since the iconic Chinua Achebe laid its first brick, keeping the house of African letters steadfast against time.
Together, we move forward, knowing that The Great Delusion is a defining manual for the future of African storytelling. Longlisted alongside The Great Delusion in the ANA drama prize category are Colours of Madness by Ikechukwu Asika and Ogiehgieh the Musical by Davidfyncountry Augustine Ogbadu.
