CALL FOR ENTRIES: NIGERIAN STUDENTS POETRY PRIZE (NSPP) 2021

INTRODUCTION

Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) is an initiative of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) aimed at stimulating literary creativity and encouraging critical thinking among Nigerian undergraduates. Since its inception in 2016 at the University of Ibadan, the prize has received over 3000 entries from students representing over 100 tertiary institutions (including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, schools of nursing and seminary schools).

Reputed as the foremost poetry prize for Nigerian students, the NSPP has awarded over 1.5 million Naira to winning entrants and published 460 poems authored by selected entrants in five anthologies: The Sun Will Rise Again (2016), Mixed History (2017), Deep Dreams (2018, Micah (2019) and The House That Built Me (2020).

Notably, tertiary institutions such as University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu and Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa hosted the NSPP Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020, the awards ceremony was hosted solely by PIN at Virginrose Resorts, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Previous grand prize winners of the NSPP include Noah Oladele (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; 2016), Bakre Fadil Adedamola (University of Ibadan; 2017), Godstime Tamunofiri Iberiyenari (Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa; 2018), Ogugua Micah Okoye (Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu; 2019) and Okwubi Godwin Adah (University of Benin; 2020).

The sixth edition of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) opens for submission between 15^th January and 28^th February, 2021. Taking note of the deadline, interested Nigerian undergraduates are expected to submit a 30-line poem on any of these themes:

(1) Individual and Collective Humanity in a Corona-Ravaged World
(2) Identity: Faces and Phases
(3) Politics of Retrogression

PRIZES

Aside rewarding the prize winners with a total cash prize of ₦400,000, exceptional entrants will each receive a certificate of excellence and complimentary copy of the NSPP anthology which features their works.

1st Prize – ₦200,000
2nd Prize – ₦100,000
3rd Prize – ₦50,000
Consolation Prize – ₦25,000 each for 4^th and 5^th best entrants

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all Nigerian undergraduates studying in Nigeria and the diaspora
Entrants must be from a recognized tertiary institution

GUIDELINES

Submissions are to be made at http://nspp.poetsinnigeria.org.ng, with strict adherence to the instructions thereon.
Poems must focus on any of these themes:

(1) Individual and Collective Humanity in a Corona-Ravaged World
(2) Identity: Faces and Phases
(3) Politics of Retrogression

Entrants must give unique titles to their works (Avoid using the wording of the themes as title of your entry).
Indicate the theme selected beneath your work.
Poems must be original intellectual property of the entrants.
An entrant is entitled to a single entry of 30 lines maximum.
Entries submitted must be previously unpublished. A submission discovered to have defaulted on this rule will be automatically voided.
All entrants are expected to purchase a minimum of one of the five NSPP anthologies uploaded on the submission portal.
Under no condition will the judges’ unanimous decisions be challenged.
Entering for the contest gives PIN automatic right to make use of entries as deemed appropriate.
Entries must be written in English. Native terminologies must be translated in English as footnotes.
Entrants should subscribe to poetsinnigeria.org.ng for regular updates.