Young man shines in international competition, wins over GHc24k after defeating over 1,000 people
- A young Nigerian man, Othuke Umukoro, has represented his country as he emerged the winner of 2021 African Poetry Prize
- The 31-year-old poet was praised as having the required word use to pass across several themes with his poems
- With his win, Othuke would be joining the league of two other Nigerians who in 2016 and 2017 clinched the same prize
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A Nigerian writer, Othuke Umukoro, who is based in Port Harcourt, has been declared the 2021 African Poetry Prize winner for a wonderful entry that speaks about family and hope among other things.
With the winning, Othuke will be bagging big prize money of £3,000 (N1,607,617.11). The 31-year-old poet said he is very excited about the news, Ripples Nigeria reports.
Source: UGC
He stated that he hopes his success will bring attention to other African poets who are also worth their salts.
Karen McCarthy Woolf, the chairman of the prize for this year, described the Nigerian winner as a person with the skill befitting the issues he handled.
On the Nigerian’s diction and narrative style, Karen added:
“The language is lush, mesmeric and deftly handles the balance between lyric and narrative. These are unafraid, thoughtful pieces - playful, yet serious, making us look at love, life, mortality afresh.”
It, should, however, be noted that the eighth edition of the prize got entries from more than 1,000 people from around the African continent.
According to Brunel’s website, two Nigerians, Gbenga Adesina and Romeo Oriogun, had won the prize in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that a Nigerian-Scottish teenager, Amanda Amaeshi, won the 2020 Glasgow Times young Scotswoman of the year.
The Glasgow Times editor, Callum Baird, made the announcement in a ceremony that was held in collaboration with the St Enoch Centre.
The editor described the Nigerian girl as one that is of immense inspiration, saying the board is glad to have her as its winner.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
Nathaniel Crabbe (Human-Interest editor) Nathaniel Crabbe is a journalist and editor with a degree in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where he graduated in 2015. He earned his master's from UPSA in December 2023. Before becoming an editor/writer of political/entertainment and human interest stories at Asaase Radio, Crabbe was a news reporter at TV3 Ghana. With experience spanning over ten years, he now works at YEN.com.gh as a human interest editor. You can reach him via nathaniel.crabbe@yen.com.gh.
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