Ghanaian poet Mariam Mohammed (Poetry), Nigerian writer Olayinka Yaqub (Fiction), and Kenyan essayist Naomi Nduta Waweru (Non-Fiction) have emerged as the winners of the 2025 JAY Lit Awards, an initiative of the Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit) that seeks to recognise excellence and honour the finest voices published in the journal in a calendar year.
The JAY Lit Prize for Poetry was won by Mariam Mohammed for her poem “The B(lack)ody as a Map to Self,” which was published in Issue 9. The JAY Lit Prize for Fiction was won by Olayinka Yaqub for his short story “The Grand Funeral of Baba Àlàmú,” also published in Issue 9, while The JAY Lit Prize for Non-Fiction was won by Naomi Nduta Waweru with her essay “Poems Holding My Hand”, published in Issue 10. The full winners list is as follows:
JAY Lit Prize for Poetry
“The B(lack)ody as a Map to Self” by Mariam Mohammed (Issue 9) – WINNER
“The Cub Who Sought a Cherub” by Princewill Ticha (Issue 10) – 1ST RUNNER-UP
“Battery’s Scent” by Anna Zgambo (Issue 9) – 2ND RUNNER-UP
“Remembrance” by Ferdinand Emmanuel Somtochukwu (Issue 10) – 3RD RUNNER-UP
JAY Lit Prize for Fiction
“The Grand Funeral of Baba Alamu” by Olayinka Yaqub (Issue 9) – WINNER
“All Things Go” by Fatima Okhuosami (Issue 9) – 1ST RUNNER-UP
“The One Who Works in the Garden” by Fiske Nyirongo (Issue 10) – 2ND RUNNER-UP
JAY Lit Prize for Non-Fiction
“Poems Holding My Hand” by Naomi Nduta Waweru (Issue 10) – WINNER
“Duala Living” by Rukayat Ogunlana (Issue 9) – 1ST RUNNER-UP
“The Architecture of Promises” by Taslimah Woli (Issue 10) – 2ND RUNNER-UP
More…
All winners and runners-up are automatic winners of the 2025 “JAY Lit Editor’s Choice Commendation”, as selected by the respective JAY Lit category editors (the tier 2 judges)—Gabriel Awuah Mainoo (poetry), Deborah Oluniran-Adeniyi (Fiction), and Iruoma Chukwuemeka (Non-Fiction).
The final winners were selected by tier 1 judges Bash Amuneni (Poetry), Eugen Bacon (Fiction), and Frances Ogamba (Non-Fiction).
The judges had the following to say about the winning pieces:
Bash Amuneni on the poetry winner, Mariam Mohammed:
For me, Mariam’s poem was the best of the four because every image is placed with care, every fracture intentional. Her attention to detail is almost surgical, cutting precisely into lineage, body, and belonging, and then leaving behind a tenderness that lingers long after the final line of the poem.
Eugen Bacon on “The Grand Funeral of Baba Àlàmú”:
This second-person story confronts the rawness of loss, rivalry, jealousy, and unrequited love, framing the death of a husband in a plural marriage through an almost darkly humorous twist of fate.
Frances Ogamba on the non-fiction winning essay/writer:
“Where is Daddy? Has he died yet? Where am I? Am I born yet?” The repeated questions feel at once like a search for answers and a steady unmaking. Each interrogative word fractures the speaker into smaller pieces, the self scattered across an unresolved past. Naomi Nduta Waweru braids loss into spoken language, and through this craft, fashions a possible landing for the unending plummet of hearts long unseated by grief.
JAY Lit editor and JAY Lit Awards manager, Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim, said about the awards:
We’re very proud of another year recognising the best of talent published in our journal through The JAY Lit Awards. As the name implies, it is an award, not a competition, something to encourage more people to write and believe in the power of their words. Congratulations to all winners and runners-up. We hope they enjoy the moment and wish them all the best for the future.
The overall winners will receive $50 each and be featured in the JAY Lit Spotlight Series. Also, following an anonymous donation, the fiction runners-up will each receive £10. The overall winners join an exclusive list of previous winners, which include Timi Sanni, Salama Wainana, Chidera Nwume, and Frank Njugi.
The Journal is immensely grateful to all our tier 2 and 3 judges, and especially to our tier 1 judges, Bash Amuneni, Eugen Bacon, and Frances Ogamba.
Huge congratulations to Mariam, Olayinka, Naomi, and all our runners-up!
