Poetry has a power of its own. We can say so much in a few words and tackle topics that inspire both pleasure and pain. It’s a great genre to begin with if you’re experimenting with writing as a craft.
We learn so much from reading the work of other poets, so, if it tickles your fancy, look out for the announcement of the winners shortlisted for 2021’s Brunel International African Poetry Prize.
From Yomi Sode’s memorial to Damilola Taylor to Kweku Abimbola’s meditation on Ashanti naming traditions to others commemorating victims of police brutality, they tackle some tough topics but also representing some emerging voices from Africa and the Diaspora to look out for.
Each of the 1,000+ who entered submitted a collection of 10 poems to enter the competition, which is now in its 8th year.
Award-winning British Jamaican poet Karen McCarthy Woolf, who leads the judging panel, said: “The poems express a sense of urgency and a spirit of witness leavened by a capacity to address complex scenarios amongst the political wreckage that has characterised this specific moment in the early 21st century. We find them now, on the brink of what promises to be notable and enduring literary careers.”
“The future looks very bright and African poetry is staking its claim as a major force in world literature,” said competition founder, Professor Bernardine Evaristo, the 2019 Booker Prize winner who teaches creative writing at Brunel University London.
The competition is sponsored by Brunel University London and offers the world’s biggest cash prize for African poetry—£3,000.
The winner is announced on May 11th.
See: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Strong-stuff-from-African-Poetry-Prize-shortlist
Really interesting, and great to see Diaspora poetry being formally recognised. Will be watching this space to see how these emerging poets perform!