Top to Bottom: Adeeko Ibukun (Nigeria), Sheila Okongo Nyanduaki (Kenya), Famia Nkansa (Ghana), Arinze Ifeakandu (Nigeria),Nick Makoha (Uganda)
11 AUGUST 2015
PRESS RELEASE
#BABISHAI2015
RELEASES THE NAMES OF TOP FIVE OF THE
POETRY AWARD
After
a few months of tough deliberation after such an excellent collection of poems,
Judges Richard Ali, Mildred Barya and Professor Antjie Krog, have selected
their top five.
Professor Krog, of the University of Western Cape, in a few of
her comments, says this about the judging process.
“The process of being a judge in this competition was for me pureprivilege! Although reading through hundreds of poems is daunting and attimes overwhelming, the adventure of getting to know what and how poetsfrom the continent write in English, was an absolute thrill and actuallydeserves a full analytical essay. Poets are NOT oblivious of the suffering, injustice and terrorising in so many parts of the continent. A straightforwardpolitical poem is one of the most difficult things to write! Evenaccomplished poets do not always manage to sidestep clichés, preaching,shortsightedness-out-of-anger, shallowness-out-of- anger, proportionality dissonance, or to lift the violent contemporary into a broader encompassing vision. But among these entries were some very fine solid political poems, complex in their content and sophisticated intheir presentation.”
In no particular order, the Top Five
are:-
·
Elixir
by Famia Nkansa (Ghana)
·
Scented
Mangoes by Arinze Ifeakandu (Nigeria)
·
LHR
by Nick Makoha (Uganda)
·
A
Room With a Drowning Book by Adeeko Ibukun (Nigeria)
·
The
Ghost of Jevanjee by Sheila Okongo Omare Nyanduaki (Kenya)
The poems are available here amongst the
shortlisted poems.
The winner will be announced during the
#Babishai2015 festival at The Uganda Museum, from 26 to 28 August. The festival
is open to all and events are free.
Each top ten winners will still be able
to participate in various festivals across the world and receive mentorship, as
part of our new program.
Our anthology, Boda Boda Anthem and
Other Poems: A Kampala Poetry Anthology is out and copies are available at
25,000/- at The Uganda Museum. Online copies will be on sale soon.
Sincerely,
The BN Poetry Strategic Team
Tel:
+256 751 703226
Twitter: @BNPoetryAward
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