Oyelola Ogunrinde, a Nigerian journalist and writer, has been longlisted for the 2025 Live Canon International Poetry Competition in the United Kingdom for the poem “Laughter.”
Ogunrinde’s “Laughter” was chosen from a vast field of entries, affirming her rising profile in the international literary arena.
The longlist, revealed during an online event on Thursday, October 23, by guest judge Ukrainian-American poet Nina Murray, places Ogunrinde’s work alongside 39 other distinguished international submissions. This achievement is particularly significant as it connects Ogunrinde to a lineage of acclaimed Nigerian and African writers recognised by this UK-based award.
For more than 10 years, the Live Canon International Poetry Competition has stood as a prestigious platform for individual poems, attracting both established and emerging voices from across the globe. By recognising poetry of exceptional merit, the competition significantly contributes to the contemporary literary landscape.
The recognition of Oyelola Ogunrinde’s “Laughter” echoes the success of other Nigerian voices on the global stage. Most notably, Nigerian British poet Inua Ellams, now a renowned playwright and performer, won the prize in 2014. This history underscores the quality and resonance of the work emerging from the Nigerian literary scene.
For Ogunrinde, a seasoned journalist known for her insightful commentary and prose, this longlisting offers a powerful validation of her venture into the concise and demanding world of poetry. While “Laughter” itself remains under the spotlight until the anthology’s release, the title suggests a contemplation of joy, resilience, or perhaps the subversive power of mirth in a turbulent world, themes often richly explored by contemporary African writers.
While the focus remains on the immense achievement of reaching the longlist, the overall accolades for the 2025 competition were also unveiled yesterday. The top prize, and title of overall winner, went to Lauren Thomas for her poignant poem, “The Beekeeper of Heligan.”
Guest judge Nina Murray, a poet and translator celebrated for her powerful, often unsettling lyricism, praised the winning poem and the entire collection, noting the high calibre and thematic diversity of the entries.
The selection process for the Live Canon prize is rigorous, with judges focusing intensely on technical skill, emotional depth and originality.
Being longlisted is an indication that a poem possesses not only literary merit but also the unique ability to stand out in a blind judging process against thousands of competing works.
The impact of the longlist is immediately tangible, as all 40 longlisted poems are to be immediately included in the 2025 Live Canon Prize Anthology. This publication ensures that Ogunrinde’s work will be distributed and read widely among poetry enthusiasts and critics internationally, offering a crucial boost to her literary career.
This victory for Ogunrinde is a victory for the vibrant and diverse literary ecosystem of Nigeria, once again proving that the nation is a central hub for world-class literary talent.
The following poems represent the best of the 2025 entries:The Shortlist
“Blow,” Nicky Kippax
“Bycatch,” Caroline Smith
“E=mc2,” Kate Fenwick
“How Fungi Unmake and Remake the World and it’s Holy,” Anne Cooper
“Pheasant Eggs,” Miles Gibson
“Rewilding at the end of the world,” Jen Feroze
“The Beekeeper of Heligan” (Overall Winner), Lauren Thomas
“The Cows on Testing Day,” Ilse Pedler
“The Final Foley Session: Climate Emergency,” Jane Thomas
“The Gleaners,” Vasiliki Albedo
“The Old People’s Home at the End of the World,” Anna Bowles
“To Mr Edwards (Physics),” Oenone Thomas
“We Never Found the River,” Laura Theis
Selected Longlist Entries
“Laughter,” Oyelola Ogunrinde
“A Boy Scout Memory,” Matthew McDermott
“Asclepius,” Bex Hainsworth
“Colourless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously,” Brett van Toen
“Family Matters,” Julia Webb
“How to ferment your past,” Denise O Hagan
“Mount Famine,” Mark Totterdell
“The bowling action of Muttiah Muralitharan,” Sarah Gibbons
“The resurrection of the Tasmanian Tiger,” David Underdown
“When a Sindhi Woman Dies, So Does a Book,” Sapna Bhavnani
