Momtaza Mehri, Theresa Lola, Hiwot Adilow are Brunel African Poetry Prize 2018 winners.

Momtaza Mehri, Theresa Lola, and Hiwot Adilow are the joint Brunel African Poetry Prize 2018 winners. The three share the 3,000 UK pounds prize money.

The Brunel African Poetry Prize was founded in 2012 by British-Nigerian writer, Bernardine Evaristo, Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London to revitalise African poetry, which at that time was almost invisible on the literary landscape. The Prize planned to draw attention to poetry and to encourage a new generation of poets who might one day become an international presence. The prize worth 3,000 UK pounds gives prize money to an unpublished African poet.

The Brunel African Poetry Prize works with many partners including Kwame Dawes and the African Poetry Book Fund at the University of Nebraska. All winners and most of the shortlisted poets of the past half-decade have poetry pamphlets published with the poetry fund in the New Generation African Poets series of boxsets with Slappering Hal Press and Akashic Books.

Winners of the prize in the last few years have been Warsan Shire (Somalia) in 2013, Liyou Libsekal (Ethiopia) in 2014, Safia Elhillo (Sudan) & Nick Makoha (Uganda) in 2015, Gbenga Adesina & Chekwube O. Danladi (Nigeria) in 2016 and Romeo Oriogun (Nigeria) in 2017.

Those who made the shortlist this year were Gbenga Adeoba (Nigeria), Hiwot Adilow (Ethiopia), Michelle Angwenyi (Kenya), Dalia Elhassan (Sudan), Nour Kamel (Egypt), Theresa Lola (Nigeria), Momtaza Mehri (Somalia), and Cheswayo Mphanza (Zambia).

The Brunel African Poetry Prize 2018 winners were announced today with Momtaza Mehri (Somalia), Theresa Lola (Nigeria), and Hiwot Adilow (Ethiopia) sharing both the prize money and the literary glory. The judges who made the call were Malika Booker, Kwame Dawes (University of Nebraska), Diana Evans, Mahtm Shiferraw and chair and founder Bernardine Evaristo (Brunel University London).