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Young Nigerian Man wins 2021 African Poetry Prize
A young Nigerian man, identified as Othuke Umukoro, has won the 2021 African Poetry prize.
A young Nigerian man, identified as Othuke Umukoro, has won the 2021 African Poetry prize.
The 31-year-old Nigerian who is based in Port-Harcourt bagged prize money of £3,000 (N1,607,617.11).
He stated that he hopes his success will bring attention to other African poets who are also worth their salts.
Karen McCarthy Woolf, the chairman of the prize for this year, described the Nigerian winner as a person with the skill befitting the issues he handled.
On the Nigerian’s diction and narrative style, Karen said: “The language is lush, mesmeric and deftly handles the balance between lyric and narrative. These are unafraid, thoughtful pieces – playful, yet serious, making us look at love, life, mortality afresh.”
It, should, however, be noted that the eighth edition of the prize got entries from more than 1,000 people from around the African continent.
According to Brunel’s website, two Nigerians, Gbenga Adesina and Romeo Oriogun, had won the prize in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
In similar news, Tani Adewumi, a Nigerian refugee in the United State, who won the New York State chess championship in 2019, has officially become a national chess master at the age of 10.
In 2019, Adewunmi, whose family had left Nigeria for the United State over the Boko Haram crisis, made the headlines after winning the 2019 New York chess championship while living in a homeless center on religious asylum.
A GoFundMe page had been set up for him and a total of $254,448 was raised in his name, which helped the chess prodigy and his family to move into an apartment.