Nigerian performance poet and creative writer Joemario Umana has won the 2026 Fare Forward Poetry Competition for his poem, Dust and Wonder.
The Fare Forward Poetry Competition is an annual contest organised by Fare Forward, an ecumenical Christian review of ideas founded in 2012. Although the publication is Christian, the competition is not limited to religious poetry. The competition accepts different forms of poetry, from formal verse to experimental work.
Umana’s first-place finish puts him ahead of:
- Rachel E. Hicks — 2nd place, Simeon (After)
- Matthew Pullar — 3rd place, Hide Me in Your Wounds
- Bradford Skow — Honourable Mention, The man who stole me from the ghetto
- Chiwenite Onyekwelu — Honourable Mention, Joseph the Carpenter
For winning the 2026 competition, the winning poet receives $350, publication of Dust and Wonder on the Fare Forward website, a letterpress broadside designed and printed by Scale House Print Shop, and publication in The Still Point poetry anthology.
Joemario Umana, Swan XVII, is a Nigerian creative writer and a performance poet who considers himself a wildflower. He writes from Maiduguri and is a shortlistee of Sophon Lit’s poetry contest ‘24 as well as the Akachi Chukwuemeka Prize for literature ‘25. His work has been featured in journals such as Trampset, Strange Horizons, Isele Magazine, and elsewhere.
Congratulations, Joemario Umana!
