The Folorunsho Editor’s Poetry Prize 2024 has been awarded to Samuel A. Betiku and Marvellous Igwe for their exceptional works, ‘Lances at the Hedges of Light’ and ‘New Man,’ respectively.
The winners were announced at the 14th Nigerian NewsDirect Lecture and Award Ceremony which took place at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, drawing a distinguished audience of business leaders, government officials, and financial experts.
Named in honour of the late Prince (Dr) Samuel Folorunsho Ibiyemi, the former Publisher of Nigerian NewsDirect, the prize continues the tradition of promoting and supporting poetry in Nigeria through the newspaper’s Poetry Column-NND. Only poets whose works have been published in the Poetry Column during the year are eligible for the award, which has been increased to N200,000 for 2024.
The finalists for this year’s prize include Chinemerem Prince Nwankwo for Transcendental and Eniola Abdulroqeeb for Quest. These poets were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the Nigerian literary landscape.
The Folorunsho Editor’s Poetry Prize plays a key role in fostering the growth of poetry in Nigeria, following the success of previous winners such as Emmanuel Mgbabor and Zaynab Bobi, both honoured in 2023, who have gone on to win other prizes such as Cave Canem Fellowship.
This year’s winners and finalists further demonstrate the continued vibrancy and talent within Nigeria’s poetry scene.