The UnSerious Collective is pleased to announce its 2022 Fellows, chosen from a longlist of 21 poets from 140 submissions.
The UnSerious Collective Fellowship is an annual initiative that supports emerging Nigerian poets. The project is run by the poets O-Jeremiah Agbaakin, Nome Patrick, Adebayo Kolawole Samuel, Wale Ayinla, Pamilerin Jacob, Michael Akuchie, and Agbowo editor Adedayo Agarau.
The Fellowship seeks to support a community that is creating infrastructure for the younger generation, while also building an archive for the next set of readers. It hopes to showcase bold, immediate, and limitless poetry.
Each fellow will receive the sum of N50,000.
The Fellows
Njoku Nonso is a Nigerian Igbo-born poet, essayist, writer of fiction, and medical student, who lives and writes in/from Ojoto in tribute to the spirit of Christopher Okigbo. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rising Phoneix Review (Pushcart-nominated), Bodega Magazine, The Shore, Animal Heart Press, Palette Poetry, Brittle Paper, Kissing Dynamite, Praxis, and elsewhere. He is currently working on his first poetry chapbook and still loving stray dogs. Twitter: @NN_Emmanuels.
Haneefah Bello is a poet and short story writer. She lives in Edo, and studies law at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, second place winner of the Akuko Lit competition, and winner of the Loft Books Short Story competition. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in PoetryColumn NND, Praxis Magazine, Kissing Dynamite, Akuko, and elsewhere.
Olúwatamílọ́re Ọ̀shọ́ (Frontier XVII) is an emerging poet from Lagos, Nigeria. Her writing negotiates sensuality, familial dynamics, and identity. She tweets @Tamiilore_O.
Jesuferanmi Lewis igbinigie is a Nigerian poet. He was an editor for an anthology titled Matrix: The Continuum, a collection of short stories and poems published by pharmacy students in the University of Ibadan, and is currently an editor for UITESWRITE Volume 4. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jesuferanme.
The 2022 Fellowship finalists are Chiwenite Onyekwelu, Emmanuel Akin-Ademola, and Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan.
