Call for Entry – Submit a 30-line Poem & Win the 2021 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize

The Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) is an initiative of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) aimed at stimulating literary creativity and encouraging critical thinking among Nigerian undergraduates. Since its inception in 2016 at the University of Ibadan, the prize has received over 3000 entries from students representing over 100 tertiary institutions (including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, schools of nursing and seminary schools).

Reputed as the foremost poetry prize for Nigerian students, the NSPP has awarded over 1.5 million Naira to winning entrants and published 460 poems authored by selected entrants in five anthologies: “The Sun Will Rise Again” (2016), “Mixed History” (2017), “Deep Dreams” (2018) “Micah” (2019) and “The House That Built Me” (2020).

Notably, tertiary institutions such as University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu and Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa hosted the NSPP Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020, the awards ceremony was hosted solely by PIN at Virginrose Resorts, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Previous grand prize winners of the NSPP include Noah Oladele (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; 2016), Bakre Fadil Adedamola (University of Ibadan; 2017), Godstime Tamunofiri Iberiyenari (Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa; 2018), Ogugua Micah Okoye (Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu; 2019) and Okwubi Godwin Adah (University of Benin; 2020).

The sixth edition of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) opens for submission between 15th January and 28th February 2021. Taking note of the deadline, interested Nigerian undergraduates are expected to submit a 30-line poem on any of these themes:

1. Individual and Collective Humanity in a Corona-Ravaged World.
2. Identity: Faces and Phases.
3. Politics of Retrogression

Prizes to be won:

Aside from rewarding the prize winners with a total cash prize of ₦400,000, exceptional entrants will each receive a certificate of excellence and a complimentary copy of the NSPP anthology which features their works.

• 1st Prize – ₦200,000
• 2nd Prize – ₦100,000
• 3rd Prize – ₦50,000
• Consolation Prize – ₦25,000 each for 4th and 5th best entrants

Eligibility 

• Open to all Nigerian undergraduates studying in Nigeria and the diaspora
• Entrants must be from a recognized tertiary institution

Guidelines

1. Submissions are to be made at http://nspp.poetsinnigeria.org.ng, with strict adherence to the instructions thereon
2. Poems must focus on any of these themes:

• Individual and Collective Humanity in a Corona-Ravaged World.
• Identity: Faces and Phases.
• Politics of Retrogression.
• Entrants must give unique titles to their works (Avoid using the wording of the themes as the title of your entry).
• Indicate the theme selected beneath your work.
• Poems must be the original intellectual property of the entrants.
• An entrant is entitled to a single entry of 30 lines maximum.
• Entries submitted must be previously unpublished. A submission discovered to have defaulted on this rule will be automatically voided.
• All entrants are expected to purchase a minimum of one of the five NSPP anthologies uploaded on the submission portal.
• Under no condition will the judges’ unanimous decisions be challenged.
• Entering for the contest gives PIN automatic right to make use of entries as deemed appropriate.
• Entries must be written in English. Native terminologies must be translated in English as footnotes.
• Entrants should subscribe to www.poetsinnigeria.org.ng for regular updates.

For enquiries, contact the moderator – Phone: +2347034847164; Email: [email protected].

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