I Wrote my Entry 5 days to the Deadline - Lois Nguveren Ugbu

Lois Nguveren Ugbu won the Prose category in 2022's edition of the New Man Gospel Writing Contest hosted by The New Man Movement. In this exclusive interview, she shares her writing journey, creative process and how she pulled off writing an award winning  story in five days.

 

NELOC News: Can we meet you?

Guest: I am Lois Nguveren Ugbu a 200 level student of the European Studies Department, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state. I am a Christian with an amazing passion to communicate Christ in words and letters and I am an omnivorous reader. I am also from Benue state and I am Tiv by tribe. 

 

 

NELOC News: You recently won the 2022 edition of the New Man Gospel Writing Contest. How did you feel when you were announced as a category winner in theGospel Writing Contest?

Guest: I was so excited. I didn't see it coming at all.

 

 

NELOC News: What are your writing aspirations for the future?

Guest: I want to be able to do a lot of writings to tell the world about Jesus especially prose and any creative piece. I don't look towards being famous, I just want the works to reach thousands of people. I hope to meet people affected by the power of God through my works and communicate with them too.

 

 

NELOC News: What other things do you do apart from writing?

Guest: When I'm not writing, I'm volunteering or teaching. I love to add value every time through volunteering and I love to teach,. At other times, I get to learn what I love to learn most - languages.

 

 

NELOC News: As regards your dreams and aspirations, what is/are your greatest fear(s)?

Guest: My greatest fear sometimes is that I might have a bigger or different assignment and might have to abandon my dreams totally especially the dream of traveling the world.

 

NELOC News: What and Who inspires your writing?

Guest: I love to read my work to myself and just look at the creativity and smile and I love the smiles and reflection I see on others too. It keeps me writing. Also, many people motivate me to write. I'd just pick out Jackie Hill Perry (Gay girl, Good God) and Adegbola Goodness (Complete).

 

 

NELOC News: When did you start writing? Can you give us a background story?

Guest: I started writing sometime in secondary school, but because of laziness, I never placed a finger on it. It was a casual thing I did. I just wrote a piece on every of my birthdays and saved it up, maybe for an anthology, I'm not sure. The New man Gospel writing contest is my first official work actually.

NELOC News: How did you know about the New Man Gospel Writing Contest?

Guest: I got to know about the New Man Gospel writing contest from Mr Philip Vincent who happens to be the head of Publicity at the New Man Movement. I saw the information about the writing contest on his Whatsapp status.

NELOC News: As a Writer, what is your creative process like?

Guest: Because I'm a fictional writer, my creative process is mainly inspired by my immediate environment and issues that drop into my spirit. Whenever I get an idea, I simply pray over it and then it builds into a story. From that point, I start to write and scriptures start to come together and make the work whole.

NELOC News: What are your thoughts about the Christian fiction writing industry today? 

Guest: I think the Christian fiction writing Industry has really grown and it's now so creative and powerful. My life has been affected by a lot of Christian fiction positively and the creativity always left me amazed and spurred me to write better.

NELOC News: How do you think Christians can write compelling stories to promote the gospel?

Guest: 4. Christians can write compelling stories that promote the gospel by always pointing people to the cross, to Jesus. Make sure your writing always draws attention to "HIM" and not your creativity. Of course your creativity will make people want to read but the whole point must be Jesus. Jesus + Creativity = a whole article or story.

NELOC News: As a result of the contest, how has the New Man Movement impacted your writing journey?

Guest:  New man movement boosted my confidence. Having to get reviews from people made me so happy. I felt like I could actually write then I started writing and submitting writings at different places.

New man was a starting point and a push for me.

I needed it. Thanks to the New Man Movement, God bless the whole team and move the work forward.

 

 

NELOC News: What would you love to say to encourage other writers?

Guest: I'd love to tell other writers to keep at it. No matter the genre of writing you are involved in, keep writing, don't stop. Writing sometimes seems really difficult even when you know what to say, but don't stop, stay at it, you'll come out just fine.

 

 

NELOC News: What do you think about the New Man Gospel Writing Contest? 

Guest: I think the Writing contest was such a great one for me. I had to do alot of praying, reading my Bible, calling people, running around. I wrote 5 days to the deadline. I was so scattered but it was an exciting and educative experience. The measures taken were fair and simple. God bless the New Man movement.

 

 

NELOC News: What new things do you hope to see in subsequent editions?

Guest: I hope that it becomes bigger and better. I hope contestants get to meet physically too. Maybe just the winners and they present their piece to a crowd and if possible constructive criticism comes after. It will be a beautiful experience really.

New Man Movement Opens Portal for Gospel Writing Contest Submissions

In an official release which was published in the early hours of Tuesday, 24th January, 2022, on the New Man Movement's website, the gospel organisation announced that it is set to host its annual Gospel Writing Contest.

The New Man Gospel Writing Contest is a yearly project organised by the New Man Movement. According to the release, the writing contest evolved to recognise the efforts and excellence of Christian writers and creatives, show them to the world and ultimately preach the gospel of Christ through creative writing.

 

 

In our chat with Mr. Nelson Vincent Ayomitunde, he explained that the 2023 edition of the New Man Gospel Writing Contest is a strategic assignment in line with the ministry's vision to birth new men by bringing them to Christ. 

 

To participate in the New Man Writing Contest 2023, kindly follow the instructions below.

Theme

The theme of the New Man Gospel Writing Contest 2023 is "Unashamed of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16). All entries must be creatively written in line with the general theme. However, your entries can be in form of:

• Prose/Short Story (maximum of 5000 words)
  
• Poetry (minimum of 30 lines)
  
• Drama (maximum of 5000 words)
• Essay/Article Writing (maximum of 2000 words)
  

These four make up the categories of this writing contest and our top winners will be selected from each of these categories. 

Eligibility

Every Christian and true believer in Christ is eligible to participate in the New Man Gospel Writing Contest. All participants must be creative in expression of thoughts, ideas and grammar as our judges will look out for these qualities in your entries. Each participant is also entitled to submit a maximum of two entries ONLY. These entries can be in any of the aforementioned categories

Submission Guidelines

All entries must be properly typed in Microsoft Word ONLY. Any submission in an other formats will not be considered. We receive a handful of entries each year and we advise that you follow these guidelines to ensure that your submission is valid. To submit your entry into the New Man Gospel Writing Contest 2023, simply visit our submissions portal here to upload your entry.

Submission Deadline

Entries into the New Man writing contest opens from 31st January, 2023 and runs through till 13th March, 2023. All entries must be submitted on or before 11:59pm on March 13th, 2023. There will be no extension of this deadline.

Entry Judgement and Voting

The entries will be judged by our competent team of judges which will be announced before the close of submissions. There will also be a voting stage where our readers, friends and family members of the participants are allowed to vote their winning entries. The judgement phase takes a total of 70 points while the voting stage takes 30 points. As such, both phases are important for winning this contest.

Prizes

The total prize value to be won this year is #200,000 ($500). This prize value includes:

• Cash prizes worth #20,000 for each category
  
• Book and Website Publishing packages
• Brand Souvenirs
• Gift Items from Sponsors
  
• Certificate of participation for all entries and much more.

Partners and Sponsors

Our official partners and sponsors range from individual to corporates, brands and organisations. For our 2023 media partners, we are particularly grateful to DailyReport NG All About Christ.Net, NELOC News, Campus Verve and Chriative Minds Royal Concepts among diverse blogs and media platforms for offering to publish details about the writing contest on their websites.

 

Winners will be recognised at a special award giving programme to be announced upon completion of the writing contest.

For sponsorship and further enquiries about the New Man Writing Contest, you can send us a message through our contact page or directly chat with a representative by clicking here