The African Poetry Book Fund has announced Iheoma J. Uzomba as the winner of the 2026 Evaristo Prize for her poem, Father’s Love.
Selected by a judging panel comprising Ladan Osman (Chair), Tsitsi Jaji, and Leila Chatti, Uzomba’s piece stood out after a rigorous evaluation process.
A Nigerian poet, Uzomba, is a winner of the Lagos-London Poetry Prize, a longlistee of the Poetically-Written Prose Contest, and a fellow of The Undertow program. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Palette Poetry, Rattle Magazine, The Shore Poetry, Kissing Dynamite, The Rising Phoenix Review, and Ake Review, among others.
She will receive a cash prize of $1,500, and her winning poems will be published on APBF in May.
The judges also named two honorable mentions:
- Another Name for Fire by McLord Selasi Azalekor (Ghana)
- Matrilineage Triptych by Raneem Bakir Alia (Morocco)
Earlier this month, the prize shortlist featured:
- Àlàáfíà – Alobun Emmanuel (Nigeria)
- Boy With A List In His Pocket – Joemario Umana (Nigeria)
- Intshabalalo Kuphela – Joel Oyeleke (Nigeria)
- Self-introduction As Visa Applicant – Chisom Eze (Nigeria)
- Still Life as Coffin Maker – Migwi Mwangi (Kenya)
- Supply Chain – Tim Fab-Eme (Nigeria)
First established as the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (BIAPP) in 2012 by British writer Bernardine Evaristo, who founded and managed the prize for ten years, the Evaristo Prize was renamed and has been administered by the African Poetry Book Fund since 2022. President of the UK’s Royal Society of Literature and a celebrated writer, Bernardine Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and the author of ten books of fiction, poetry, essays, drama, criticism, and journalism.
Congratulations, Iheoma J. Uzomba!
