Chiemeziem Everest Udochukwu has won the inaugural Afro RomCon Literary Prize for his short story, ‘The Channels We Find.’
The winners were announced during the second edition of Afro RomCon, with:
- Olu Allen’s ‘When the Lake Carries’ named first runner-up; and
- Emmanuella Omonigho’s ‘The Date’ taking second runner-up.
The Afro RomCon Literary Prize was established to spotlight African romance fiction and encourage new voices to pen down love stories rooted in African experiences.
Sponsored by Masobe Books, the prize forms part of Afro RomCon‘s broader mission to build a thriving community of romance writers, readers, publishers, and industry professionals while elevating the genre within African literature.
Congratulations to Chiemeziem Everest Udochukwu, Olu Allen, Emmanuella Omonigho, and every writer who participated in the inaugural Afro RomCon Literary Prize!
Sarah Adeyemo
Sarah Adeyemo is a poet, writer, editor, and spoken word artiste from Nigeria. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Sarah has work published or forthcoming work in ANMLY Lit, D’Iit Review, The Fiery Scribe Review, Con-Scio Magazine, Sevhage Review, Okiti Literary, Synchronized Chaos Magazine, Pepper Coast Magazine, The Weeds Review, Akpata Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, TV-63 Magazine, Poems for Persons Interest, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere. Her works have been shortlisted for the 2025 Labari Prize for Poetry and longlisted for the 2025 Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize. She serves as the Managing Editor at Words-Empire Magazine, a Poetry Editor at Yarnz Magazine, PFPOI, and a News & Feature writer at the Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit). She was a writing resident of the Rongo Artist Residency in 2026 and is currently a writing resident at the Ebedi International Writers Residency. She is a member of The Swan Collective. A dramatic poet who tweets @sarahinkspires.
