Theresa Lola, has been named joint winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and awarded one of the three top prizes of £1,000. She shared the joint prize with Hiwot Adilow from Ethiopia, and Momtaza Mehri from Somalia.
She emerged winner out of over 1,000 other international entrants.
According to Theresa Lola:
“Winning the Brunel International African Poetry Prize feels surreal, it is an unwavering highlight.
I started writing after being inspired by Nigerian poets I saw during a school trip to the Lagos Poetry Festival when I was 12 years old, so to win the Brunel International African Poetry Prize feels like I am doing my job and responsibility as a poet and human in putting Africa forward where it rightly belongs.
Going through the awkward teenage reclusive phase, I wanted to document everything I was observing and started writing what I now knew as poetry.
I was inspired by the way poets articulated and condensed heavy stories and knew poetry was the mode of writing I needed.
As a poet it has definitely bolstered my confidence, and of course sheds more light on the possibility of a poetry career.”
Launched in 2012 by Brunel University London and judged by a panel of writers and academics, the Brunel International African Poetry Prize aims at providing a platform for Africa’s finest unpublished poets.
The Prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African.
To encourage only serious entrants, organisers ask that poets each submit a pamphlet of their best 10 pieces of work.
Unlike last year’s shortlist that had four Nigerians on it, the 2018 shortlist has more poets from different African countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Zambia and two poets from Nigeria.
The Prize is funded by the Commonwealth Writers of the Commonwealth Foundation.