The Obibiezenna Prize For Literature 2026 Opens October 10: A Call for African Poets

The Obibiezenna Prize For Literature is excited to announce the annual prize, dedicated to poetry for the year 2026.

On October 10, 2026, The Obibiezenna Prize for Literature will begin to accept poems from African poets and poets of the African Diaspora, aged 18 and older. The award was established to honor the best of African literature. We want to encourage writers and poets who turn out to be fresh, inventive and original. For this year’s edition of the prize, we will be giving consideration only to poetry. We are interested in poetry that takes risks with language and form. Poetry that surprises us. Poetry that stays with us.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗬

𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗛 Ikenna Okeh is a Nigerian novelist, poet, playwright and cultural curator whose literary practice is rooted in the imaginative possibilities of African experience. His poetry is discussed in Dr Nicklas Hållén’s scholarly study, OkadaBooks and the Poetics of Uplift, published in English Studies in Africa. Okeh was formerly a member of the editorial team of The Hotazel Review. He has participated in literary and cultural programmes internationally and, in 2024, was a writer-in-residence at the Africa Center Mexico, where he also served as director of the Puebla International Literature Festival 2024. Beyond his writing, Okeh is deeply engaged in building literary institutions and communities. He is the founder of Tiny Dot Bookstore and The Tiny Dot Review, independent literary and cultural platforms dedicated to cultivating reading, publishing, criticism and creative exchange. He is also the founder of Linea House Publishing. His work places him within a generation of African writers concerned not only with producing literature, but with creating the cultural structures through which literature is read, discussed, preserved and carried across borders.

𝗣𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗢 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗥𝗔 Pablo Gross Herrera (Orizaba, Mexico, 1997) is a poet, lawyer, editor, university lecturer, and philosophy student whose intellectual work lies at the intersection of literature, philosophy, and law. He is the author of the poetry collections El Discurso del Silencio (Alcorce Ediciones, 2019) and Entropía (Valparaíso Ediciones, Spain, 2023), and his work has also appeared in several literary anthologies. Beyond poetry, he has worked in literary criticism, essay writing, editing, proofreading, and as the author of forewords and reviews. Gross Herrera has participated in the International Colloquium on Poetry and Philosophy organized by Fondo de Cultura Económica, the Puebla International Literature Festival, the BUAP National Book Fair, and the Orizaba International Book Fair. He has also served as a poetry judge and presented the work of fellow authors at literary events. Alongside his literary career, he practices law, teaches at university level, and writes the newspaper column Al Margen del Estado. His work explores poetry, philosophy, and law as complementary ways of questioning language, the individual, and reality.

𝗔𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗔𝗡𝗔 Abraham Aondoana is a writer and poet. He is a fellow of the Idembeka Creative Writing Workshop 2026 and was selected for the inaugural class of the Jésuṣẹmí Poetry Program 2026. His poem was shortlisted for the Interwoven Anthology 2025 (Renard Press). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Oyez Review, Loyalhanna Review, New Words Press, Three Rooms Press, Descant Magazine, San Pedro River Review, and elsewhere.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗦 Three poets will be recognized in the 2026 edition: First Prize - ₦100,000 Second Prize - ₦70,000 Third Prize - 50,000

𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗠𝗜𝗧? African writers 18 years old and above are invited to participate in The Obibiezenna Prize For Literature 2026.

𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 African writers: Eligible. Qualification: Applicants should be aged 18 years or above. Applicants' nationality/citizenship should be indicated in the application. African diaspora: Eligible. It is open to writers from all over the continent and African writers in the diaspora.

𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 10 October 2026 – Submissions Open 5 November 2026 – Submission Deadline  30 November 2026 – Shortlist Announced  12 December 2026 – Winners Announced

On 10 October 2026, The Obibiezenna Prize For Literature will open its doors. This is your invitation if you are an African poet or African poet in the diaspora. Submit your poem! Please share with us the poem that lets you know that language can still surprise you.