African poetry

Since the 1950s, the Nobel laureate has worked in rebellion, carving out a complex, fecund torque of an oeuvre. But as his plays of mythic vigor and Yoruba impulse revitalized Anglophone theatre, raising an art form to ritualistic heights, his force of personality kept him in the political arena, a close witness of an African affliction. Few artists have lived like him. Yet at 91, carrying the mantle of “greatest living writer,” he has one more great battle on his hands — with generations who once deified him.

He inherited the drama of the gods and became the greatest living writer. But at 91, in the long rage of Nigerian nationhood, his deep political legacy is at a crossroads.

Nick Mulgrew started a publishing outfit to bring “dismissed or ignored” voices to print. Ten years later, it has landed notable prizes, invested in indigenous languages, and grown a dedicated readership.

The Nigerian poet, a staff writer at Open Country Mag, will receive $1,500 for three poems in English and in Pidgin. It is the renowned magazine’s top honor.

Of the eighth volume guest-edited by Sarah Lubala and Logan February, managing editor Precious Okpechi writes: “The way we express joy, the way our longings fold out of our skin, is skewed by the weight of customs.”

The prize-winning Nigerian poet and co-founder of A Long House magazine honed his craft in the quiet, and then we heard his pathbreaking voice.

The Future Award Africa Prize-winning Nigerian poet and author of the collection In the Nude on “the book as an interface for the soul” and their literary, musical, and cinematic influences.

From the streets of Benin City to The New Yorker, a young working-class Nigerian writer scaled obstacles and became a defining voice in African poetry.

The Nigerian poet shows perplexities with measured control and composure—a detached storyteller with the simple yet daring assignment of pointing “humanity to the loss of itself.”