04/24/2026
This yearโs judging panel, comprised of poets Ladan Osman (Chair), Tsitsi Jaji, and Leila Chatti, selected Iheoma J. Uzombaโs โFatherโs Loveโ as the winner of this yearโs Evaristo Prize.
Iheoma J. Uzomba (Nigeria) is a winner of the Lagos-London poetry prize, a longlistee of the Poetically-Written Prose Contest, and a fellow at The Undertow program. Her poems have been published and are forthcoming in Palette Poetry, Rattle Magazine, The Shore Poetry, Kissing Dynamite, The Rising Phoenix Review, Ake Review and elsewhere.
Warm congratulations, also, to the honorable mentions and shortlisted poets who were announced earlier this week.
Another Name for Fire โ McLord Selasi Azalekor (Ghana)
Matrilineage Tryptych โ Raneem Bakir Alia (Morocco)
รlร รกfรญร โ Alobu Emmanuel (Nigeria)
Boy With A List In His Pocket โ Joemario Umana (Nigeria)
Intshabalalo Kuphela โ Joel Oyeleke (Nigeria)
Self-introduction As Visa Applicant โ Chisom Eze (Nigeria)
Still Life as Coffin Maker โ Migwi Mwangi (Kenya)
Supply Chain โ Tim Fab-Eme (Nigeria)
First established as the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (BIAPP) in 2012 by British writer Bernardine Evaristo, who founded and managed the prize for ten years, the Evaristo Prize was renamed and has been administered by the African Poetry Book Fund since 2022. President of the UKโs Royal Society of Literature and a celebrated writer, Bernardine Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and the author of ten books of fiction, poetry, essays, drama, criticism, and journalism.
The African Poetry Book Fund thanks all the poets who have shared their work with us. Every year, we look forward to receiving and engaging with the poems of emerging African writers.
