After weeks of rigorous evaluation of the exceptional stories, poems, and essays published by Isele Magazine over the past year, the winners of the 2025 Isele Prizes have been officially announced.
Following the release of the longlists in April and shortlists in May, this year’s winning entries represent a stunning intersection of literary craft:
Short Story Prize: Josiah Ikpe – “Not Like Other Boys”
Josiah Ikpe’s story “Not Like Other Boys” has been awarded the 2025 Isele Short Story Prize. In prose that is both direct and delicately layered, Ikpe explores the experience of cruelty, endurance, and eventual triumph with remarkable poise.
His sentences, tactfully varied in rhythm and tone, carry emotional weight that lingers long after reading.
At the heart of the story is a narrator whose observant eye and sharp wit anchor the narrative. Instead of despair, Ikpe brings humor and resilience to the fore, revealing a story that is as moving as it is quietly defiant.
Read “Not Like Other Boys” by Josiah Ikpe.
Nonfiction Prize: Tolu Daniel – “Notes of a Nonresident Alien”
Tolu Daniel’s Notes of a Nonresident Alien has earned him the Isele Nonfiction Prize for 2025. This essay unfolds in poignant vignettes that chronicle the harsh reality of immigration and displacement.
Vividly rendered and emotionally searing, Daniel’s reflections on life abroad highlight the alienation faced by international individuals, even as he threads the narrative with love, longing, and a desire for community.
The essay is not only an act of witnessing but also a meditation on memory, belonging, and what it means to leave a place that once was home. His work contributes significantly to contemporary conversations about migration and identity.
Read “Notes of a Nonresident Alien” by Tolu Daniel.
Poetry Prize: Fatima Abdullahi – “Three Poems”
Fatima Abdullahi has been awarded the 2025 Isele Poetry Prize for her compelling trio titled Three Poems. Her work distills deeply personal grief into lines that resonate on a universal level.
Touching on themes of aging, familial loss, and emotional estrangement, the poems display lyrical precision and an almost architectural control of tone and imagery. With references that range from Dylan Thomas to Diana Der-Hovanessian, Abdullahi situates her work within a broader poetic tradition, even as she breaks new ground in articulating how grief reshapes our inner lives.
Read “Three Poems” by Fatima Abdullahi.
Congratulations Josiah Ikpe, Tolu Daniel, and Fatima Abdullahi!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
