Nigerian-American writer, Kyle Okeke has been crowned the winner of the poetry category in the highly regarded Sewanee Review Contest for his piece, The Soft Life of a Black Man.
Okeke’s poem, The Soft Life of a Black Man, stood out among the entries for its assured voice, emotional depth, and masterful execution. Shane McCrae, the judge for the poetry category, lavished praise on Okeke’s work, stating:
“Lately, I’ve found myself most drawn to poems that sing with an assured voice. I don’t know how to describe what an assured voice sounds like except to say that the sound is the sound of something that is entirely itself. ‘The Soft Life of a Black Man’ is entirely itself, meaning it is finally unreachable, but capable of profoundly altering whatever reaches for it.”
McCrae highlighted the poem’s technical brilliance, particularly its careful handling of line breaks. He added:
“Its lines are unassuming, but each of them, more often than not, is immediately followed by a surprise, or at the very least a line that confirms the poet’s unerring judgment with regard to line breaks. I wouldn’t change a word of it—it is, it seems to me, a perfect poem.”
Kyle Okeke is a Nigerian poet and writer currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of Texas at Austin’s New Writers Project. His work has been recognized with several accolades, including the Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship and the Monica K. Roberts Graduate Award in Black Queer Studies. Okeke’s poetry has been featured in various literary journals, such as Glass: a Journal of Poetry, Screen Door Review, and The New Southern Fugitives.
The Sewanee Review Contest is a prominent literary event that received over 1,100 submissions in 2024. Winners not only receive a $1,000 prize but also have their work published in the prestigious Spring 2025 issue, cementing their place among the literary elite.
For more information on the contest, click here.
Congratulations Kyle Okeke!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
