Two Nigerians clinch 2016 Brunei poetry prize

Two Nigerians, Gbenga Adesina and Chekwube O. Danladi have been announced joint winners of the 2016 Brunel University African Poetry Prize in partnership with Commonwealth Writers. Adesina, who lives in Nigeria, was an Open Society Foundation Resident Poet on Goree Island, off the coast of Senegal. His first chapbook, ‘Painter of Water, will be published […]

Two Nigerians, Gbenga Adesina and Chekwube O. Danladi have been announced joint winners of the 2016 Brunel University African Poetry Prize in partnership with Commonwealth Writers.

Adesina, who lives in Nigeria, was an Open Society Foundation Resident Poet on Goree Island, off the coast of Senegal. His first chapbook, ‘Painter of Water, will be published by APBF in 2016. The judges described his poems as “powerfully political, beautiful and truly searing,” and as “a poet with compelling voice addressing concerns of injustice, memory, migration and family.” 

Raised in Nigeria and the United States of America, Danladi is currently working towards an MFA in Fiction at the University of Illinois in Urban-Champaign. The judges said: “Danladi’s poems are glorious, risky, ambitious and fresh. There is a powerful sense of social justice and serious engagement with contemporary and historical African concerns.”
This year’s judges include poets, critics and academics: Dr Kwame Dawes of University of Nebraska, Dr Tsitsi Jaji of University of Pennsylvania, Dr John Keene of Rutgers University, Dr Helen Yitah (University of Ghana), and Chair and founder, Dr Bernardine Evaristo, Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London.

Out of a record-breaking 900 entries, the judges came up with a shortlist of ten poets which included Gbenga Adesina (Nigeria); Victoria-Anne Bulley (Ghana); Mary-Alice Daniel (Nigeria); Chekwube O. Danladi (Nigeria); Amy Lukau (Angola); Ngwatilo Mawiyoo (Kenya); Momtaza Mehri (Eritrea/Somalia); Saradha Soobrayen (Mauritius); Warsan Shire (Somalia) and Chimwemwe Undi (Zambia/Zimbabwe/Namibia)

This is the fourth year of The Brunel University African Poetry Prize, a major poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. The prize is sponsored by Brunel University London and Commonwealth Writers. It is open to African poets worldwide who have not yet published a full poetry collection. Each poet has to submit 10 poems to be eligible.