4 outstanding Nigerian poets win N300,000 prize

Four poets have emerged winners of the N300,000 worth Words Rhymes & Rhythm Green Author Prize (GAP 2016) for young, unpublished Nigerian poets resident in the country.

Hussani Abdulrahim, a writer from Kaduna state. He is presently a student of Pure Chemistry at the Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.

Siraj Abdulazeez Sabuke, a student of English Language at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

Joseph Ofejiro Bilabi, a poet from Usiefrun in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta

Mesioye Johnson, a final year student of Banking and Finance at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.

The quartet will share a publishing contract worth N300,000 in form of a co-authored collection of poems to be published by Words Rhymes & Rhythm Publishers.

A panel of judges, made up of four respected writers:GoodnessOlanrewaju Ayoola, award-winning author of Meditations; Salamatu Sule, poet and founder of Fahimta Literary Discourse (FLD); David Ishaya Osu, a poet and editor at Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel; and Uche Uwadinachi, an award-winning performance poet and the author, selected the quartet from nearly a hundred submitted manuscripts.

The 2015 Green Author Prize (GAP) was won by Vanger Fater, a 23-year-old poet from Benue State; Wazabi Adamu Ijarafu, a 22-year-old poet from Adamawa state; Onwuasoanya Chika Jones, a 24-year-old poet from Imo state; and Ayomide Festus, a 22-year-old poet from Osun state.

The Green Author Prize, now in its second year, was initiated in 2015 by WRR CEO, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, as a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of the company, to give upcoming writers, who have been limited by the prohibitive cost of publishing in Nigeria, a chance to get published.

It is the only book prize for poetry in Nigeria.

WRR is committed to promoting Nigerian literature through youth-targeted initiatives like the Green Author Prize.

For more information visit www.authorpedia.wrr.ng/GAP-2016.

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