The Hassoum Ceesay Memorial Prize for Fiction has been launched in partnership between the Writers Association of The 
Gambia and National Centre for Arts and Culture and the Family of Hassoum Ceesay, (1944-2010), a noted Gambian writer, diplomat and international civil servant.
The prize aims to reward Gambia based writers whose work has been published locally; to help build a writing and publishing culture in The Gambia; to inculcate and promote the culture of reading in The Gambia; to honour the literary legacy of Hassoum Ceesay (1944-2010), one of the great Gambian authors and co-founder of Ndaanan literary magazine. It will be awarded once a year on January 10. Cash prizes will be awarded as follows: First prize: D20,000; Second D10,000; Third D7,000. According to the co-ordinator of the Prize Mr. Hassoum Ceesay, “submission standards include: works of fiction (prose, poetry, play) published in the form of a book in The Gambia from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 are eligible; and authors will make the submission of one good copy of the entry; also an author can submit or enter for three categories of play, prose and poetry at one time. Entries should be submitted at the Gambia National Museum, Banjul on or before 31 December, 2016.” He invites Gambian writers and authors to participate.
