From prizes, publishing houses and festivals to magazines, journals, writers’ development initiatives, grants and blogs, the contemporary literary scene in Africa is, like those in Europe and in the Americas, reliant on institutions willing to push existing boundaries. While the institutions are doing important work, there aren’t many of them as there should be, and collective […]
Tag Archives: Safia Elhillo
Yasmin Belkhyr, Romeo Oriogun, Liyou Libsekal, JK Anowe Featured in Forthcoming 20.35 Africa Anthology Guest-Edited by Gbenga Adesina and Safia Elhillo
In February, we announced a call for submissions for a new poetry project. The anthology, 20.35 Africa: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, is the brainchild of a team of Nigerian poets and creatives: Ebenezer Agu; D. E. Benson; Gbenga Adeoba, finalist for the 2018 Brunel Prize; the visual artist Osinachi; and Chisom Okafor, finalist for the 2018 […]
On Black and Arab Identities: Safia Elhillo’s Arab American Book Awards Acceptance Speech
Safia Elhillo has won the 2018 Arab American Book Award, also known as the George Ellenbogen Poetry Award, for her debut poetry collection The January Children. She is the first Sudanese American author to win the award. A leading voice in the contemporary African poetry scene, Elhillo is known for her experimental poetic style and her hard-hitting […]
Safia Elhillo Makes a Fashion Statement at the Arab American Book Awards
From Taiye Selasi’s dreamy designer collections and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s flayed sleeves and Dior collaboration to Alain Mabanckou’s dapper suits and glasses and Yvonne Owuor’s elegant dresses, from Chika Unigwe’s on-point accessories to Molara Wood’s newspaper dress and Teju Cole’s Ikire Jones scarves and inspiring a jacket design and Sisonke Msimang’s thigh-high heels and Nnedi Okorafor’s […]
Opportunity for African Poets | Enter for the 2019 Brunel International African Poetry Prize
Submissions for the 2019 Brunel International African Poetry Prize will begin on 30 October and end on 12 December 2018. Previous winners include Somalia’s Warsan Shire in 2013, Ethiopia’s Liyou Libsekal in 2014, Sudan’s Safia Elhillo and Uganda’s Nick Makoha in 2015, Nigeria’s Gbenga Adesina and Chekwube O. Danladi in 2016, Nigeria’s Romeo Oriogun in 2017, and […]
Safia Elhillo Awarded 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship
Safia Elhillo has been awarded a 2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. The Fellowship, which is given by The Poetry Foundation and its publication, Poetry magazine, is worth $25,800 for each recipient. The Sudanese poet, whose work was featured in the 2018 Winter Olympics, was chosen alongside four others: Hieu Minh Nguyen, sam sax, […]
Safia Elhillo, Koleka Putuma, Kemiyondo Coutinho in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List
Four writers have been named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2018: Sudanese poet Safia Elhillo and South African performance poet Koleka Putuma—both of whom were shortlisted for the 2017 Brittle Paper Award for Poetry—Ugandan playwright-actress Kemiyondo Coutinho, and Nigerian writer-filmmaker Sonia Irabor. They are included alongside such entertainers as South African rapper Cassper Nyovest, South African […]
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