We are pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2025 Brigitte Poirson Literature Prize (BPLP), following a highly competitive review process that drew outstanding poetry and short fiction submissions from across the continent and the diaspora.
This year’s shortlisted works demonstrate remarkable literary craft, thematic depth, and imaginative engagement with personal, social, and political realities. We congratulate all shortlisted writers on this significant achievement.
Shortlisted Poems
- The Tailor’s Gospel by Akindutire, Elizabeth Abosede
- Field Notes on Birth & Oblivion by Blessing Omeiza Ojo
- Post-Apocalypse by Pacella Chukwuma-Eke
- The Bulbul & the Geometry of Dawn by Abubakar Ibrahim
- Meet Me at the Park by Joy Nwamaka Chime
- What the Earth Told Me in Silence by Nathan Felix
- The Hands That Painted the Sky by Olukitibi Elizabeth Atilola
- How Do I Glorify My Country When It Runs the Faces of Razor Blades on My Skin? by Godwin Obaji
- The River Swallows the Open Ground by Adamu Danjuma Abubakar
- The Thin Line Between a Heartbeat & the Fragile Hands of Machines by Felix Eshiet
Shortlisted Short Stories
- CTRL Z by Ikechukwu Henry
- Hostage Song by Daniel Echezona
- A Dark Quinquennial by Ibrahim Oga
- An Ehi Speaks by Adesuwa Agbonile
- The Weight of Our Steps by Christian Emecheta
The winners of the 2025 Brigitte Poirson Literature Prize will be announced on Saturday, 10 January 2026. They will get $400 cash prize ($200 for poetry & $200 for short fiction).
All shortlisted poems and short stories will be published in the BPLP 2025 Anthology. The anthology will also feature some selected longlisted works, including the following poems: Innocence by Grace Ezinne Ajunwa; Autopsy of a Deceased Country by Adebola Temitayo Ogunyemi; This Is Not Just a Country by Segun Adesoro; Zhinyim (Stay for Me) by Izaza Izeowayi; The Song of Nature by Iyanuoluwa Oni; I Want to Run Away from My Country by Michael Agunbiade; Soul on the Edge by Ruth Dipura; The Deep of Relativity by Oladimeji Adam Adedayo; Mother in the Mirror by Halimah Adisa; and The Rainmaker’s Daughter by Oladoyin Ayodeji Victor. Selected longlisted short stories to be included are: Feed Us Your Heart by Jane Udochi; The Gods Are Wise by John Ebut; The Season of Migration to the North by Daniel Yohanna; Woman by Abdulrahman M. Abu-Yaman; and (In/Re)Surrection by Chimezie Okoro.
Words Rhymes & Rhythm thanks all entrants for their compelling submissions and remains committed to celebrating literary excellence and amplifying powerful contemporary voices through the Brigitte Poirson Literature Prize.
For more about the Prize’s history, mission, and past winners, visit https://authorpedia.net/csr/bppc/
