In January 2026, Writertain opens its publishing cycle with a deliberately structured, one time dual-volume release, designed to introduce the full editorial scope of the platform from the very beginning of the year. This decision applies only to January and is not a recurring monthly format, but rather a foundational editorial move that allows Writertain to establish both its writers-first cultural index and a focused thematic extension without fragmentation or future ambiguity.

The January issue is therefore divided into two connected but distinct volumes. Volume One documents writers and writing influence across Nigeria’s creative, journalistic, academic, and public discourse ecosystem, while Volume Two concentrates specifically on health-related writing, including fitness, diet, wellness, and public health communication. From February onward, Writertain returns to a single-volume monthly structure, carrying forward the same evaluative framework introduced in January.

Writing as Cultural Infrastructure

Writing in Nigeria functions less as an isolated creative output and more as cultural infrastructure, underpinning publishing, film, journalism, education, policy communication, and digital media, even though this structural role is rarely acknowledged in public recognition systems. UNESCO data consistently places the global cultural and creative industries at over three percent of world GDP, and within Nigeria, sectors such as Nollywood, independent publishing, digital journalism, and online storytelling rely fundamentally on writers whose labour shapes narrative, meaning, and public understanding.

Films celebrated for their performances depend entirely on screenwriters whose narrative architecture determines coherence and emotional impact. Investigative journalism credited to institutions is sustained by individual reporters and essayists whose research, analysis, and writing carry personal risk and long-term intellectual responsibility. Yet in many cultural rankings, writers remain secondary to products, platforms, or personalities.

Writertain’s editorial model responds directly to this imbalance by documenting people rather than outputs, and influence rather than virality.

Volume One: Writers First, Across Disciplines

Volume One of the January issue focuses on writers as individuals and as cultural actors, mapping influence across fiction, poetry, screenwriting, spoken word, journalism, academic writing, criticism, digital storytelling, policy writing, and hybrid forms that move across multiple mediums. Rather than ranking books, films, or viral moments, the emphasis is placed on consistency, credibility, reach, and contribution to public conversation throughout 2025.

Within this structure, screenwriters are assessed through verified writing credits and narrative impact rather than box office performance, while film critics and reviewers are evaluated strictly through written analysis, published criticism, and sustained engagement with film culture, excluding creators whose work exists primarily in recorded or reaction-based formats. Academics and researchers are included only where their writing demonstrably reaches public audiences through essays, books, commentary, or policy-facing work.

The full set of writers-first lists for Volume One can be found here:
Read Volume 1

Volume Two: Health Writing as a January Focus

Alongside Volume One, Writertain introduces Volume Two as a January-only thematic extension, applying the same writers-first evaluative principles to health, fitness, diet, and wellness writing. Health communication in Nigeria increasingly occurs outside academic journals, appearing instead in books, columns, newsletters, blogs, and longform social media writing that reaches broad and diverse audiences, often with direct implications for public behaviour and understanding.

By dedicating a separate volume to health writing within January, Writertain is able to evaluate health writers using standards of consistency, factual grounding, public reach, and sustained contribution, rather than engagement metrics alone. This approach allows fitness writers, diet writers, and public health communicators to be documented as writers, not influencers, while keeping the thematic focus clearly contained within a single issue.

All health-related features, lists, and analyses published under Volume Two are available here:
Read Volume 2

Why the Dual-Volume Structure Exists Only in January

Introducing both volumes at the start of the year prevents misinterpretation of scope, intent, or omission, ensuring that readers encounter Writertain’s full editorial framework immediately rather than inferring direction piecemeal across later months. While January carries two volumes, this structure exists solely to establish the record and is not repeated in subsequent months.

From February onward, Writertain publishes a single monthly issue, guided by the writers-first principles, categorisation logic, and evaluative standards introduced in January.

Positioning Writertain as a Cultural Record

By centring writers across disciplines and documenting influence rather than momentary success, Writertain positions itself not as a rankings blog or content platform, but as a cultural index and intellectual ledger. This allows journalists, academics, critics, screenwriters, and hybrid creators to be evaluated alongside novelists and poets, reflecting the interconnected reality of Nigeria’s writing ecosystem.

The January dual-volume release establishes this authority clearly, while the rest of the year continues the work of documentation, assessment, and cultural memory without altering the format.