The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA) have shortlisted 11 novelists as finalists for the 2016 prize for literature with the theme “Book Party”.Eight women were among the shortlisted novelists who competed in Nigerian prose and fiction on Sunday in Lagos.The nominees are: Maryam Awaisu (Burning Bright); Sefi Atta (A Bit of Difference); Mansim Okafor (The Parable of the Lost Shepherds); and Chika Unigwe (Night Dancer).Others were Ifeoma Okoye (The Fourth World); Elnathan John (Born on a Tuesday); Ogochukwu Promise (Sorrows’s Joy); Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Season of Crimson Blossoms) and Yejide Kilanko (Daughters who Walk This Path).Also shortlisted were Ifeoluwa Adeniyi (On the Bank of the River); and Aramide Segun (Enitan-Daughter of Destiny).The 11 selected novels featured a range of human issues from love, religion, terrorism, rape, incest to anxieties of the youths.The Secretary General of CORA, Toyin Akinosho, said NLNG and CORA believed in organising interactions between the book industry and functional library to help develop the cultures of book writing and reading in the country.Full details HEREImage is a file photo from 2015