The Derek Walcott Prize has announced its 2025 shortlist, featuring three prominent Nigerian writers among the contenders for this year’s award. Hussain Ahmed, Theresa Lola, and Ajibola Tolase have all earned nominations, highlighting a strong Nigerian presence in international poetry.
Hussain Ahmed is recognized for his critically acclaimed collection, Blue Exodus (Orison Books). Theresa Lola’s second poetry collection, Ceremony for the Nameless (Penguin Press), secured her spot on the list, while Ajibola Tolase’s highly praised 2000 Blacks (University of Pittsburgh Press) completes the Nigerian trio.
Presented annually by Arrowsmith Press, the Derek Walcott Prize honors the enduring legacy of St. Lucian Nobel Laureate, Sir Derek Walcott. The award celebrates a book of poetry by a non-U.S. citizen, published anywhere in the world, and includes a $2,000 honorarium.
This year’s judging panel is led by renowned poet Ishion Hutchinson, author of School of Instructions: a Poem, House of Lords and Commons, and Far District. Hutchinson, born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, is currently the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor in the Humanities at Cornell University.
The full shortlist for the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize includes 15 distinguished poets from across the globe:
- Hussain Ahmed, Blue Exodus, Orison Books
- Olena Boryshpolels, Orpheus and Euridyce in New York, Poets of Queens
- Tim Bowling, In the Capital City of Autumn, Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd.
- Gillian Clarke, The Silence, Carcanet Press
- Wendy Cope, Collected Poems, Faber & Faber
- Najwan Darwish, No One Will Know You Tomorrow, Yale University Press
- Lavinia Greenlaw, Selected Poems, Faber & Faber
- Leeladhar Jagoori, What of the Earth Was Saved, World Poetry Books
- Jazra Khaleed, The Light That Burns Us, World Poetry Books
- Theresa Lola, Ceremony for the Nameless, Penguin Press
- Mary O’Malley, The Shark Nursery, Carcanet Press
- Alan Payne, Mahogany Eve, The Poetry Business
- Ajibola Tolase, 2000 Blacks, University of Pittsburgh Press
- Shash Trevett, The Naming of Names, The Poetry Business
- Christine Roseeta Walker, Coco Island, Carcanet Press
The winner of the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize will be officially announced in October.
- Featured image:Ishion Hutchinson/arrowsmithpress.com
