Nigerian publishing firm Parrésia Publishers has won the 2026 CANEX Prize for Publishing, securing the $20,000 award for issuing Professor Akin Adesokan’s novel, South Side. The announcement came on Friday evening during the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Iganmu, Lagos, according to The Lagos Review.
The award, now in its third edition, honours the entire craft of the publisher rather than the text alone. Juries assess editorial standard, book production, design quality, innovation, distribution, and cultural influence. This year, the prize expanded its boundaries beyond the African continent by removing "in Africa" from its name to welcome entries from publishers in Caribbean Community member states.
South Side marks a major fiction comeback for Adesokan, who teaches Comparative Literature and Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. The novel, which explores displacement, identity, and the search for belonging, represents his first work of fiction in 21 years following his debut novel, Roots in the Sky.
Parrésia was founded in 2012 by Azafi Omoluabi and Richard Ali with a mission to bring books to Nigerian readers and support free expression. The press previously published Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms, which won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2016. South Side emerged top from a shortlist of five works, with each of the other four shortlisted contenders taking home $2,000.
The 2026 jury was led by Nigerian scholar Professor Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, alongside Kenyan poet Khainga O’Okwemba and South African academic Professor Polo Moji. The victory brings the honour back to Nigeria. Cassava Republic Press secured the maiden edition in 2024 in Algiers, while Cape Town's Karavan Press took the title in 2025.
The presentation formed part of CANEX WKND 2026, a four-day trade and creative event organised under the theme "One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World." Vice President Kashim Shettima opened the gathering, joined by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Afreximbank President George Elombi, and federal ministers.
