Olowo Qudus Opeyemi, Hussani Abdulrahim and Akor Agada Nathaniel have been shortlisted for the 2021 Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP). Awarded annually, the AJPP celebrates the best poem from the combined top 10 entries of the bi-monthly Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC) from February to September of each year.
All three shortlisted poets are serial finalists in the BPPC 2021 edition: Hussani emerged 3rd in April/May edition, and 2nd in the June/July edition; Akor, the 1st runner-up of the AJPP in 2020 edition, came 2nd in the February/March edition of the BPPC 2021; Olowo was 3rd in the February/March edition.
The shortlisted poems are:
- ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ BY OLOWO QUDUS OPEYEMI — FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 [READ POEM]
- ‘THE WORLD MUST HAVE GONE MAD’ BY AKOR AGADA NATHANIEL — FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 [READ POEM]
- ‘MELANIN GIRL’ BY HUSSANI ABDULRAHIM — JUNE/JULY 2021 [READ POEM]
A winner will be announced at the 6th edition of the annual Words Rhymes & Rhythm Literary Festival — FEAST OF WORDS (FOW) 2021 will hold on the 26th and 27th of November, 2021, with the theme: BRIDGING WITH WORDS. The winner will be awarded a N20,000 cash prize, a Gold Chapbook publishing package from Authoropedia with a one-year 10% discount on all Words Rhymes & Rhythm Ltd. services. This year’s winner will also get a Certificate of Award.
Past winners of the prize are Osadolor Williams Osayande (2020), 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.
