Nigerian Canadian poets Tolu Oloruntoba and Jumoke Verissimo have both made it to the Best Canadian Poetry of 2025 list! Their inclusion celebrates two distinct yet equally powerful collections that explore themes of identity, history, and healing through the lens of the Black experience.

Tolu Oloruntoba’s inclusion highlights his collection Unravel, published by McClelland & Stewart, which reflects on themes of identity, belonging, and agency through poems that fundamentally explore what it means to be human in today’s world. Now living in Alberta, Oloruntoba brings a unique perspective shaped by his Nigerian heritage. He is the founder of the literary magazine Klorofyl and won the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry for his debut collection The Junta of Happenstance, as well as the Griffin Poetry Prize, cementing his status as one of Canada’s most important contemporary poets.

Jumoke Verissimo’s recognition comes through her powerful collection Circumtrauma, which explores the lasting legacy of the Nigeria-Biafra War, a conflict largely absent from official history yet profoundly impactful on those who lived through it. The Toronto-based poet combines historical records and personal accounts to bear witness to intergenerational pain while looking toward healing and reconciliation. Verissimo is also the author of the poetry collections I Am Memory and The Birth of Illusion, the novel A Small Silence, and the children’s book Àdùkẹ́, Grandma and the Moon’s Secrets.

The dual recognition of Oloruntoba and Verissimo in the Best Canadian Poetry 2025 anthology speaks to the vibrant diversity of contemporary Canadian verse and the essential contributions of Nigerian Canadian writers to the literary landscape. Congratulations to Oloruntoba and Verissimo!