By Ademuyiwa Balikis
Penguin Random House has announced a new addition to its annual U.S. Creative Writing Awards, the Chinua Achebe Award for Freedom of Expression, created to honour the legendary Nigerian author and celebrate young voices who challenge boundaries through storytelling.
The new award invites high school seniors across the United States to reflect on a banned book that changed their life, in keeping with Achebe’s legacy of using literature as a tool for truth, identity, and transformation.
Valued at $10,000, the prize will go to one U.S. public high school senior whose essay best captures the power of freedom in literature. Applications for the 2026 Creative Writing Awards opened on October 1, 2025, and will close on January 15, 2026, or once 1,000 submissions are received.
The award pays tribute to Achebe’s enduring impact on global storytelling. His classic novel Things Fall Apart reshaped world literature and inspired generations of writers to tell authentic stories about their cultures and histories.
The launch coincides with Banned Books Week, a period when Penguin Random House reinforces its stance against censorship and its support for diverse books in classrooms. The publishing house emphasises that knowledge and access to a wide range of perspectives should never be restricted, highlighting its commitment to freedom of expression through initiatives like the Achebe Award.
The Chinua Achebe Award joins five other categories under the Penguin Random House U.S. Creative Writing Awards, which recognise outstanding student work in fiction or drama, poetry, spoken word, personal essay, and memoir.
The program is jointly administered by Scholarship America, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), as part of Penguin Random House’s continued effort to nurture and amplify emerging literary voices from diverse backgrounds.
In addition to the six first-place winners, up to 100 honourable mentions will receive creativity kits containing Penguin Random House titles and writing resources, along with an invitation to a virtual development week featuring writing workshops and sessions with PRH editors.
Through the Chinua Achebe Award for Freedom of Expression, Penguin Random House aims to continue Achebe’s legacy by empowering a new generation of writers to use their voices boldly and celebrate the transformative power of literature.
