Poets in Nigeria (PIN), which runs the Nigerian Students’ Poetry Prize (NSPP), will be holding its 2018 Awards Ceremony at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, on 24 May 2018. The university is the sponsor of the 2018 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize.

In an email to Brittle Paper, PIN president Eriata Oribhabor explained that the 2018 Nigerian Students’ Poetry Prize (NSPP), which has a cash prize of N100,000 for Nigerian undergraduates, opened for submissions on 15th January, 2018. After a review of the entries, 464 submissions were deemed eligible to vie for the prize. A 5-member judging panel was then announced: Soji Cole, Hulya N. Hilmaz, Saka Aliyu, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, and Ismail Bala, who is the chair. In February, as part of the buildup to the NSPP ceremony, Poets in Nigeria (PIN) announced the top 100 poems.

Here is part of the press release from Poets in Nigeria (PIN)

The 2018 edition of Nigerian Students Poetry Prize awards, sponsored by Godfrey Okoye University (GO UNI), Enugu comes up on 24th May, 2018. This year’s event promises to be a huge improvement on the previous editions. In cognisance of ongoing plans, a one day Summit of Board members, Connect Centre Reps and Co-reps would hold on 23rd May, 2018 at Enugu. All things being equal, we might have a special Open Mic of Poetry Performance same day.

PIN Centre Representative Amaka Chime, a poet and lecturer at Godfrey Okoye University, stated that, in addition to the awarding of the main prize, PIN will organize a poetry prize for secondary school students, in addition to a special session during which personalities who have contributed to shaping poetry in Nigeria would be recognized.

Importantly, there will be a workshop geared towards encouraging more students to take interest in poetry.