Eleven poetry collections have made the longlist for the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature, narrowing the contest from 223 submissions into the first major stage of the race for the $100,000 award.
The announcement signals the start of a tighter round of judging, with the board now preparing to select three finalists before the winner is named later in the year.
According to the advisory board, this year’s longlist reflects the strength, range and inventiveness of contemporary Nigerian poetry.
The selected works were praised for engaging history, memory, identity, violence, oppression and resilience, while also showing a wide mix of style, imagery and poetic voice.
The longlisted collections are *Adult Love* by Tanure Ojaide, *Bakandimiya* by Saddiq Dzukogi, *Black Passport* by Paul Akpomuje, *2000 Blacks* by Ajibola Tolase, *Ceremony for The Nameless* by Theresa Lola, *Corpus: Animistic Verses* by Ayo Oyeku, *Floral’s Love Colony* by Tares Oburumu, *The Origin of Wounds* by Malik Gbolahan, *The Years of Blood by Adebayo Agarau, *Unbind Me Now* by James Ugwu Eze and *Why Does God Need a Gun* by Ogaga Ifowodo.
The board said the next round will require a closer reading of each collection, with attention to language, structure, originality and lasting literary value.
It noted that some of the books lean into allegory and elegy, while others draw on folklore, oral tradition and contemporary experience to create layered, reflective poems.
The prize remains one of the most closely watched literary awards in Nigeria because of its prestige and its cash value. Sponsored by NLNG, it rotates annually across prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature, and the 2026 edition is dedicated to poetry.
A shortlist of three is expected in August, setting up the final stage of the competition before the winner is announced in October.