Nigerian Students Poetry Prize calls for entries

Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) has opened for submissions. Interested undergraduates are expected to submit a 30-line poem on any theme of their choice before the deadline. NSPP is an initiative of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) aimed at stimulating literary creativity and encouraging critical thinking among Nigerian undergraduates. Since its inception in 2016 at the […]

Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) has opened for submissions. Interested undergraduates are expected to submit a 30-line poem on any theme of their choice before the deadline.

NSPP is an initiative of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) aimed at stimulating literary creativity and encouraging critical thinking among Nigerian undergraduates. Since its inception in 2016 at the University of Ibadan, the prize has received about 2500 entries from students representing over 100 tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, schools of nursing and seminary schools.

The prize has awarded over a million naira to winning entrants and published 400 poems authored by selected student-poets in four anthologies: ‘The Sun Will Rise Again’ (2016), ‘Mixed History’ (2017), ‘Deep Dreams’ (2018) and ‘Micah’ (2019).

Notably, tertiary institutions such as University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu and Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa hosted the NSPP Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Previous grand prize winners of the NSPP include Noah Oladele (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; 2016), Bakre Fadil Adedamola (University of Ibadan; 2017), Godstime Tamunofiri Iberiyenari (Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa; 2018) and Ogugua Micah Okoye (Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu; 2019).

Aside rewarding the prize winners (top three entrants) with a total cash prize of 500,000, the top 100 entrants will each receive a certificate of excellence and complimentary copy of the NSPP anthology which features their works.

The first prize winner goes home with 250,000, second 150,000, and third 100,000. There is also a consolation prize of 25,000 each for 4th and 5th best entrants. Open to all Nigerian undergraduates studying in the country and the diaspora, entrants must be from a recognized tertiary institution.

Submission Deadline is March 31, 2020