The Nigeria Prize for Literature has unveiled its longlist of 11 poetry collections for the 2026 edition.
The $100,000 Prize, sponsored by NLNG and widely regarded as one of the world’s most valuable literary awards, has named 11 poetry collections on its 2026 longlist.
The selected titles are: Bakandamiya: An Elegy by Saddiq Dzukogi; Corpus: Animistic Verses by Ayo Oyeku; Adults Love in the Childhood Garden by Tanure Ojaide; 2000 Blacks by Ajibola Tolase; Unbind Me Now by James Ngwu Eze; Flora’s Love Colony by Tares Oburumu; The Years of Blood by Adedayo Agarau; Black Passport by Paul Akpomuje; Why Does God Need a Gun by Ogaga Ifowodo; The Nameless by Theresa Lola; and The Origin of Wounds by Rasaq Malik Gbolahan.
The announcement described the selection as a body of work carrying distinct voices, tensions and hopes, offering readers new ways of seeing familiar experiences.
The prize, established in 2004, rotates annually among four genres, prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature, with the winner receiving $100,000.
The 2026 cycle focuses on poetry.
The longlist draws together established figures, including Ojaide and Ifowodo, alongside emerging writers such as Tolase and Eze, reflecting a broad generational range among this year’s contenders.
When Ikeogu Oke, of blessed memory, won the prize in 2017 for The Heresiad, Ojaide and Ifowodo were the other two finalists for Songs of Myself: Quartet, and A Good Mourning, respectively.