The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced the participants for its prestigious Emerging Critics Program for 2025–2026, with two African voices — Karen Chalamilla of Tanzania and Ernest Ògúnyẹmí of Nigeria — making the list.
The initiative, launched to support early-career critics from diverse backgrounds, offers mentorship, networking opportunities, and professional development to help shape the future of literary criticism. Guided by the belief that critical thought thrives through dialogue, the program nurtures writers from a broad range of backgrounds.
A writer and researcher whose work investigates the intersection of art, pop culture, and political identities – including gender, sexuality, race, and class, Karen Chalamilla writes from a feminist perspective, she centres Black and African cultures, bringing forward narratives often overlooked in mainstream discourse. Her work has been featured in prominent publications such as Gal-dem, The Republic Magazine, African Arguments, The Floor Magazine, AMAKA, TewasArt Africa, Africa Podfest,and The Citizen.
Ernest Ògúnyẹmí writes from Nigeria. His poems and essays have appeared in AGNI, The Sun, The Republic, No Tokens, Hopkins Review, and Mooncalves: An Anthology of Weird Fiction. He is the author of a chapbook, A Pocket of Genesis (Variant Lit, 2023), and a forthcoming collection of stories, Let Beginning Suffice (NO Press, fall 2025). A 2022 Visiting Teaching Artist at the Poetry Foundation, he is the poetry editor of EfikoMag. He holds a BA in History and International Studies from Lagos State University.
See the full list of NBCC Emerging Critics Class of 2025-2026 here.
Congratulations, Karen Chalamilla and Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí on your win!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
