The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced the recipients of its 2025 Creative Writing Fellowships, awarding $25,000 grants to 36 poets across the United States.
Among the distinguished honorees are two African-descended poets: Chisaraokwu Asomugha, a Nigerian-American, and Brian Gyamfi, a Ghanaian-American.
About The Poets
- Chisaraokwu Asomugha:
She is an Igbo American poet, artist, writer, and healthcare futurist. Her work spans various disciplines, reflecting her inter- and transdisciplinary approach to art and medicine. Asomugha’s poetry and essays have been featured in publications such as Obsidian, ROOM, The Washington Post, and The Lancet. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Brooklyn Poets, Anaphora Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, and the California Arts Council.
Asomugha’s work, which draws deeply from her Igbo heritage, examines themes of migration, identity, and cultural legacy. Her poetry has been praised for its emotional depth and exploration of the immigrant experience in contemporary America.
- Brian Gyamfi:
Brian Gyamfi is a Ghanaian American writer from Arlington, Texas. He holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, where his research focused on neurotic disorders and creativity in BIPOC communities. Gyamfi’s work explores collective trauma, the convergence of Western religion and African spirituality, and the shaping of truth by traditional norms, politics, and religion in pre- and post-colonial African history.
He has been recognized with a Pushcart Prize, National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, the Zell Fellowship at the University of Michigan, two Hopwood Awards, the Helen S. and John Wagner Prize, and the Michael R. Gutterman Award. He has been a finalist for the Poetry International Prize, the Oxford Poetry Prize, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, the Hopwood Drama Award, and the National Poetry Series.
Gyamfi graduated summa cum laude with honors from the University of Texas, earning his BA, and later received his MFA from the University of Michigan, where he was a merit scholar. His libretto The Ants Are Illuminated was commissioned by Overtone Industry for their Original Vision Opera. His work has appeared in POETRY, Narrative Magazine, The Adroit Journal, Poetry International, Guernica, and other publications.
The NEA Creative Writing Fellowships, one of the most competitive literary honors in the United States, offer recipients the opportunity to focus on their craft without the distraction of financial concerns. With a rigorous selection process, less than 3% of applicants are chosen, making the fellowship a prestigious mark of excellence in American literature.
The inclusion of Asomugha and Gyamfi among this year’s awardees underscores the NEA’s ongoing commitment to supporting diverse voices in the literary world.
For further information on the full list of fellows, visit the NEA website.
Congratulations Chisaraokwu Asomugha and Brian Gyamfi on this great win!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
