Ghanaian-American poet Afia Ansong has won the 2026 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets for her collection, I buried [her] in a field of lemongrass.
As the winner of this year’s prize, Ansong will receive a $1,000 cash award, while her manuscript will be published by the University of Nebraska Press as part of the African Poetry Book Series.
This year’s judging panel comprised acclaimed writers and scholars Chris Abani, Gabeba Baderoon, John Keene, Matthew Shenoda, Mahtem Shiferraw, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, and Helen Yitah, alongside Kwame Dawes, Director of the African Poetry Book Fund and Series Editor of the African Poetry Book Series.
Reflecting on the winning manuscript, judge Mahtem Shiferraw said:
“I love this manuscript for what it can do, the possibilities it can open with each poem, which go beyond the page.”
The judges also named three finalists for the 2026 prize:
- Wale Ayinla (Nigeria) for A Brief History of Seeds
- Abduljalal Musa Aliyu (Nigeria) for Cataclysm
- Chimezie Umeoka (Nigeria) for Eschatologies
Afia Ansong is the author of the chapbooks Black Ballad, Try Kissing God, and American Mercy. Her poems have appeared in publications including The Cincinnati Review, Prairie Schooner, Four Way Review, and Maine Review. She is also the founder of The Adinkra Projects. This initiative supports emerging Ghanaian writers through poetry workshops and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Rhode Island.
Congratulations, Afia Ansong!
