Michael Imossan Clinches 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets

Nigerian literary talent Michael Imossan has been named the winner of the 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets for his collection All that Refuses to Die. This feat marks him as the twelfth recipient of the award, following in the footsteps of fellow Nigerian poets Tares Oburumu (Origins of the Syma Species, 2022) and Abu Bakr Sadiq (Leaked Footages, 2023), creating a remarkable three-year winning streak for Nigerian poets. Another Nigerian, Gbenga Adeoba also brought home the prize in 2019 with his collection, “EXODUS.“

Imossan’s award includes a $1,000 cash prize and the publication of his manuscript by the University of Nebraska Press as part of the African Poetry Book Fund series. The selection process was done by a distinguished panel of established and well-regarded poets from the African Poetry Book Fund’s Editorial Board, such as Chris Abani, Bernadine Evaristo, Gabebo Baderoon, Aracelis Girmay, John Keene, Phillipa Yaa de Villiers, and Kwame Dawes, who is the Director of the African Poetry Book Fund and Editor-in-Chief of Prairie Schooner.

Established in 2013 by philanthropists Laura Sillerman and the late Robert F. X. Sillerman in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press, the Sillerman Prize honours emerging African poets from the continent and the diaspora. “The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection. This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.”

Past winners from across Africa include Tjawanga Dema, Bernard Farai Matambo, Safia Elhillo, Mahtem Shiferraw, Ladan Osman, and Clifton Gachagua.

Imossan’s poetry, celebrated for its exploration of themes such as family, country, self-realization, love, and nature, has garnered significant recognition. The Ibibio-born poet won the 2022 Radical Arts Endless Sky Competition while his chapbook For the Love of Country and Memory won the Nigerian News Direct Poetry Prize in 2022. His manuscript, Broken in Three Places was a semi-finalist for the Sillerman Prize in 2023. Imossan has also received the PEN International Writer’s Grant and an honorable mention for the Dibiase Poetry Prize in 2022. His pamphlet, A Prelude to Caving, was published by Konya Shamsrumi in 2023.

His work has been nominated for the Forward Prizes for Poetry, Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize. His poems have been featured or are forthcoming in notable literary journals including Frontier Poetry, Lucent Dreaming, Konya Shamsrumi, Sans.Press, Full House, Chestnut Review, Electric Literature, Ake Review, Poetry Columnnd, Sango-Ota, and more.

The submission window for the 2025 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets opens from September 15 through December 1. This prize is available to African poets who have yet to publish a full-length collection. For further details or to explore the work of the African Poetry Book Fund, visit www.africanpoetrybf.org.