After a thorough judging session by the judges, Dami Àjàyí and Titilope Sonuga, the entries of 15 poets were chosen to be featured in the anthology, and 3 of these 15 poets, who had the most outstanding poems, will receive a cash prize of ₦20,000 each.
100 entries were submitted for this contest, but only 16 made the top entries. Originally, 20 poets were supposed to be featured in the anthology, while 5 poets were supposed to receive a cash prize of ₦20,000, but based on the feedback from the judges, the quality of entries were really poor. Due to this, the judges had to got through a lot of deliberation in selecting the shortlist and they decided on choosing only 16 poems, instead of 20, and 3 cash winners, instead of 5.
So in no particular order, we present to you, the 16 poems to be featured in the anthology, and the top 3 that will get the cash prize:
– And Death fell asleep by Rukevwe Jegede Ikpen
– Collection of broken thoughts by Edaki Timothy
– Mama’s Advice by Oluwatoba Oyerinade
– Music of the guns by Iloh Onyekachi
– They say I do not carry my place well by Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto
– Tamed by O.O Akinyele
– A decades dream by Chinenye Olivia
– Somewhere in the middle by Okechukwu Princess
– Dashed by Okpara Ugochukwu
– Him by Micheal Akuchie
– A truthful lie by Muhammadu Fathi Adepeju
– HE-ARTICULATE by Rhabbi
– How we raise our daughters in Africa by Micheal Ace
Top 3
– The colour of death by Christtie Jay
– Salted wounds by Mazpa Ejikem
– LIPFEST 18 by Mesioye Johnson
These top 15 entries will also be rewarded with a FREE Masterclass with Kwame Dawes. If your poem made this list above, go to Kwame Dawes’s Masterclass with an identification to verify your name and you’ll be registered on site.
