The Brunel International African Poetry Prize
In 2022, the Brunel International African Poetry Prize announced its 10th and final winner. APBF took on the administration of the prize and renamed it the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry.
History of the Brunel International African Poetry Prize
The Brunel International African Poetry Prize was a major annual poetry prize of £3000, aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. The Prize was sponsored by Brunel University London.
Bernardine Evaristo, writer and Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel, initiated the award in 2012 in order to revitalize African poetry, which at the time was almost invisible on the literary landscape. The Prize was set up to encourage a new generation of poets who might one day become an international presence.
The Prize worked closely with the African Poetry Book Fund (APBF), and since its inception, most of the poets who have been nominated and/or won this award have published chapbooks with the African Poetry Book Fund series New-Generation African Poets.
For legacy information about the Brunel International African Poetry Prize, click here. The Prize was open to poets who were born in Africa, who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African. It was for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. These poems were allowed, in some cases, to have already been published: Poets who had not yet had a full-length poetry book published were eligible. Poets who had self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published were also allowed to submit for this prize.
List of Brunel Winners
2022 Winner: Zibusiso Mpofu (Zimbabwe)
Honorable Mention: Asmaa Jama (Somalia)
Shortlist
Conor Cogill (South Africa)
Edil Hassan (Somalia)
Fahad Al-Amoudi (Ethiopia)
Adedayo Agarau (Nigeria)
Chisom Okofor (Nigeria)
Judges
Gabeba Baderoon (Chair)
Tjawangwa Dema
Tsitsi Jaji
2021 Winner: Othuke Umukoro (Nigeria)
Shortlist
Kweku Abimbola (Gambia)
Arao Ameny (Uganda)
Isabelle Baafi (South Africa)
Asmaa Jama (Somalia)
Tumello Motabola (Lesotho)
Oluwadare Popoola (Nigeria)
Yomi Sode (Nigeria)
Judges
Karen McCarthy Woolf (Chair)
Rustum Kozain
Makhosazana Xaba
2020 Winner: Rabha Ashry (Egypt)
Shortlist
Akosua Afiriyie-Hwedie (Zambia)
Inua Ellams (Nigeria)
Amanda Holiday (Sierra Leone)
Nour Kamel (Egypt)
Saradha Soobrayen (Mauritius)
Judges
Karen McCarthy Woolf (Chair)
Kayo Chingonyi
Billy Kahora
Momtaza Mehri
Koleka Putuma
Makhosazana Xaba
2019 Winners: Nadra Mabrouk (Egypt) & Jamila Osman (Somalia)
Shortlist
Afua Ansong (Ghana)
Mary-Alice Daniel (Nigeria)
Inua Ellams (Nigeria)
K. Eltinae (Nubian Sudan)
Omotara James (Nigeria)
Nadra Mabrouk (Egypt)
Selina Nwulu (Nigeria)
Emmanuel Oppong (Ghana)
Jamila Osman (Somalia)
Sherry Shenoda (Egypt)
Judges
Matthew Shenoda (Chair)
Leila Chatti
Phillippaa Yaa de Villers
2018 Winners: Hiwot Adilow (Ethiopia), Theresa Lola (Nigeria), & Momtaza Mehri (Somalia)
Shortlist
Gbenga Adeoba (Nigeria)
Hiwot Adilow (Ethiopia)
Michelle Angwenyi (Kenya)
Dalia Elhassan (Sudan)
Nour Kamel (Egypt)
Theresa Lola (Nigeria)
Momtaza Mehri (Somalia)
Cheswayo Mphanza (Zambia)
Saradha Soobrayen (Mauritius)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Malika Booker
Kwame Dawes
Diana Evans
Mahtem Shiferraw
2017 Winner: Romeo Oriogun (Nigeria)
Shortlist
Leila Chatti (Tunisia)
Kayo Chingonyi (Zambia)
Saddiq Dzukogi (Nigeria)
Yalie Kamara (Sierra Leone)
Nick Makoha (Uganda)
Rasaq Maliq (Nigeria)
Kechi Nomu (Nigeria)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Kwame Dawes
Tsitsi Jaji
John Keene
Helen Yitah
2016 Winners: Gbenga Adesina (Nigeria) & Chekwube O. Danladi (Nigeria)
Shortlist
Gbenga Adesina (Nigeria)
Victoria-Anne Bulley (Ghana)
Mary-Alice Daniel (Nigeria)
Amy Lukau (Angola)
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo (Kenya)
Chekwubi O. Danladi (Nigeria)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Chris Abani
Kwame Dawes
Safia Elhillo
Patricia Jabbeh Welsley
2015 Winners: Safia Elhillo (Sudan) & Nick Makoha (Uganda)
Shortlist
Safia Elhillo (Sudan)
Inua Ellams (Nigeria)
Nick Makoha (Uganda)
Ngwatilo Mayiwoo (Kenya)
Bernard Matmabo (Zambia)
Hope Wabuke (Uganda)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Gabeba Baderoon
Malika Booker
Kwame Dawes
Warsan Shire
2014 Winner: Liyou Libsekal (Ethiopia)
Shortlist
Viola Allo (Cameroon)
Inua Ellams (Nigeria)
Liyou Libsekal (Ethiopia)
Amy Lukau (Angola)
Nick Makoha (Uganda)
Vuyelwa Maluleke (South Africa)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Kwame Dawes
Kadija George
Daljit Nagra
Mpalive Msiska
2013 Winner: Warsan Shire (Kenya/Somalia)
Shortlist
Peter Akinlabi (Nigeria)
Viola Allo (Cameroon)
Lena Bezawurk Gronland (Ethiopia)
Kayo Chingonyi (Zambia)
Chielezona Eze (Nigeria)
Warsan Shire (Somalia)
Judges
Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)
Sharmilla Beezmohun
Kwame Dawes
Karen McCarthy Woolf
Mpalive Msiska