The Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFest) has opened applications for the inaugural cohort of the LIPFest Craft and Development Lab, a free four-month program offering craft training, mentorship, and professional development to poets, spoken word artists, and writers from Nigeria, Africa, and the diaspora. Ten participants will be selected through an open call. Applications close Friday, 3 July 2026.

The Lab is designed for early- to mid-career writers with active projects in development — manuscripts, spoken word albums, poetry films, stage works — and will combine facilitated workshops, one-on-one mentorship, peer critique, and career development support in a sustained virtual environment. Participants will also be eligible for portfolio development grants and showcase opportunities connected to LIPFest and partner festivals across the region.

The first cohort will be facilitated by three poets of considerable standing: Romeo Oriogun, winner of the NLNG Literature Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Professor of Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University; Titilope Sonuga, Nigerian-Canadian poet, spoken word artist, and former Poet Laureate of Edmonton; and Nick Makoha, Ugandan poet, author of Kingdom of Gravity and The New Carthaginians, and founder of the Obsidian Foundation. The program is supported by Africa No Filter.

Apply here. All sessions will be delivered virtually, and applicants must be comfortable working in English.