The 3-man shortlist of the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) 2020 has emerged. On this years’ shortlist are Akor Agada Nathaniel, Osadolor Williams Osayande, and 2019 runner-up Oladimeji Adam Adedayo.
Awarded annually, the AJPP celebrates the best poem from the combined top 10 entries of the monthly Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC) from February to September of each year. Akor and Oladimeji were finalists thrice in the 2020 season of the BPPC, appearing in the top 10 of the February/March, April/May and August/September editions while Osadolor won the April/May edition and was a finalist in August/September.
The shortlisted poems are:
- ‘WHO CAN FIND A TRUE FRIEND’ BY AKOR AGADA NATHANIEL — FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 FINALIST [READ POEM]
- ‘CLOVEN HEARTS WITH A DEEP RED’ BY OSADOLOR WILLIAMS OSAYANDE — FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 FINALIST [READ POEM]
- ‘THE DUOPOLY’ BY OLADIMEJI ADAM ADEDAYO — APRIL/MAY 2020 FINALIST [READ POEM]
A winner will be announced at the 2020 edition of the Words Rhymes & Rhythm Publishers annual Literary Festival – FEAST OF WORDS: ‘TOGETHER IN ISOLATION‘, holding on Saturday, December 12th, 2020.
The winner will be awarded N20,000 cash prize, a Gold Chapbook publishing package from Authoropedia with one-year 10% discount on all Words Rhymes & Rhythm Ltd. services. This year’s winner will also get a Certificate of Award and free copies of the 2020 BPPC Anthology – A Pandemia of Poetry which will also be unveiled at FEAST OF WORDS 2020.
Past winners of the prize are Emmanuel Faith (2019), Aire Joshua Omotayo (2018), Ogwiji Ehi-kowochio Blessing (2017) and Kanyinsola Olorunnisola (2016).
The AJPP is an annual poetry award instituted in 2014 by Words Rhymes & Rhythm in honor of late Fr. Albert Jungers (1948 – 2013), a Priest, Poet, and Teacher. Fr. Al, as he was fondly called until his death, was an instructor and dear ‘father’ to young Nigerian poets. He brought different poetry forms to life with simple instructions.
The Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest, a CSR project of Words Rhymes & Rhythm (WRR), is a monthly writing contest aimed at rewarding the under-appreciated talent of young Nigerian poets. It was instituted in 2015 in honor of Brigitte Poirson, a French poet and lecturer, editor, who has over the years worked assiduously to promote and support African poetry. Regarded as one of the few credible contests for poets in Nigeria, the BPPC is popular among the younger generation of poets.
