Michael Imossan brings home the 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets with his collection “All that Refuses to Die”. This comes after Tares Oburumu (Nigerian) who won in 2022 and Abu Bakr Sadiq (Nigerian) who won in 2023.
The Sillerman Prize for African Poetry is one of the most prestigious poetry Prizes in Africa, awarded to a poet who is yet to have a full-length manuscript. In addition to receiving a $1000 prize, the winner’s book will be published in the African Poetry Book Series by the University of Nebraska Press. Previous winners of the award include established poets such as; Safia Elhilo with her collection “The January Children”, Gbenga Adeoba with his collection “Exodus”, Tjawanga Dema with her collection “The Careless Seamstress” and many others.
The late Robert F.X. Sillerman and his wife Laura Sillerman, both philanthropists, established the Sillerman Prize in 2013. By giving out prizes to poets who haven’t yet released a poetry collection, the competition honours the work of up-and-coming African and African-diasporic poets in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press.
The winner of the Sillerman Prize for this year, Michael Imossan, is a poet, playwright and editor of Ibibio origin. He is the author of the poetry chapbook “For the Love of Country and Memory” which won the Nigeriannewsdirect poetry Prize, 2022. He is the author of the pamphlet “A prelude to caving” published by Konyashamsrumi, 2023. His full-length manuscript “Broken in Three Places” was named semi-finalist for the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. He is a recipient of the PEN International Writer’s grant. He was awarded an honorable mention for the Dibiase Poetry Prize, 2022. He is the winner of the 2022 Radical Arts Endless Sky competition. His works has been nominated for the Forward Prizes for Poetry, Best of Net and Pushcart Prize.
Michael Imossan’s works mostly navigate family, country and love. In his debut chapbook “For the Love of Country and Memory”, Michael explores the conditions of the country and the ordeals in which he faces as a result of those ordeals. In a review by Adesiyan Pelumi, he says “Michael Imossan in his chapbook “For the Love of Country and Memory” is in a toxic relationship with his country, one that he cannot leave”. Some of the literary theories engaged by Michael in his works are postcolonialism, feminism and eco-criticism.
With Michael’s resilience and commitment to poetry as well as other forms of literature, he is a talent to look out for in the Nigerian poetry scene and beyond.