Winner of the 2025 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, Oyin Olugbile, has opened up about how her curiosity about Yoruba mythology and her rebellious streak inspired her award-winning novel Sanya.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, the author explained that the idea for the book came from her fascination with Yoruba gods, particularly Oranmiyan and Sango and her desire to reimagine their stories for a modern audience.
“What I always say is that the thing with knowledge is that sometimes it comes in form of a seed that you do not even know that is there,” she said.
“I studied theatre arts at the University of Lagos, so I was familiar with all of these gods and stories. But after school, I moved into social impact work and became a consultant. During one of my projects on child abuse, I stumbled upon Oranmiyan’s story – and somehow, from there, Sango’s story came up too.”
Oyin said the discovery rekindled her curiosity. “I immersed myself in that research and was neck deep for months,” she continued.
“Afterwards, I went to my husband and told him, ‘I have a story to tell you.’ I said, ‘If Sango was betrayed at the end of his life, that betrayal must have been personal – maybe even from family.’ That’s how the idea of retelling the story differently began to form.”
Olugbile, who beat Chigozie Obioma and Nikki May to clinch the $100,000 prize, said she wanted to retell Sango’s story in a way that resonated with today’s audience. “If you tell a child the story of Sango, would the child be curious the same way they are about Spider-Man or Thor? In our traditional stories, we have Sango, but where’s the origin? How can we tell these stories creatively?” she asked.
Explaining her decision to reimagine Sango as a woman named Sanya, Olugbile said, “I’m quite rebellious – always have been. I even wrote the story that way, with a bit of that rebellious energy. From the start, the idea was simple: let the controversy come. Sometimes controversy shakes things up enough for change to happen.”
The writer said she wanted Sanya to provoke reflection, not outrage. “Because our stories were passed down orally, a lot may have been distorted,” she explained. “So I asked myself – what if we tell them differently? Would children be as curious about Sango as they are about Marvel heroes if we gave his story more depth? That curiosity is where Sanya was born.”
Asked whether her work was a form of feminism, Olugbile said her goal was misinterpreted by some readers. “These days, if someone doesn’t like men, they’re quickly labelled a feminist. But that’s not feminism – that’s misandry,” she said. “Feminism, for me, is about giving voice and visibility to women without silencing or disrespecting men. It’s about partnership through empowerment, not rivalry.”
She added that she did not write Sanya to suggest a woman would make a “better Sango.” “The idea was simply to tell the story as it made sense to me creatively, based on my research,” she said.
Olugbile also addressed concerns that her reimagining of a revered Yoruba figure might offend traditional authorities, especially the Oyo Palace. “My apologies to the palace,” she said. “My intention was never to insult the throne. I only wanted to start a conversation – a creative ‘what if’. Could there have been a time when a woman sat on the throne but her identity was hidden because of taboo? That’s the question I wanted to explore.”
Speaking on her writing journey, she revealed that Sanya began in 2017 but took years to complete due to research, family, and other commitments. “I’d write a little, pause, and return to it,” she said. “Thinking about the story is easy, but writing and refining it – that’s the real work. My husband kept me accountable. He’d always remind me, ‘Go and write that story.’”
Olugbile said collaboration was key to finishing the book. “I had an editor I paid to review each chapter and tell me the truth. First-time writers think writing is a one-man journey, but it’s not. You need people who’ll read your work and give honest feedback.”
She also spoke about facing rejection before success. “My first draft without an editor was rejected by a publishing house,” she recalled.
“I decided not to rush but to get a proper editor. After the rewrite, I sent it to another publisher, and they accepted it immediately. That first ‘no’ made the second ‘yes’ even sweeter.”
Reflecting on her ressearch and portrayal of Sango, Oylugbile said she does not see Sanya as a final version of the story but as one of many possibilities. “There’s no perfect work of art,” she said. “Art evolves, perspectives shift. If another writer decides to retell the same story tomorrow, that should be celebrated. That’s how stories and culture stay alive.”
The NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, which comes with a $100,000 cash award, is Africa’s most prestigious literary prize, celebrating excellence in Nigerian writing.
