Eleven Poets to Be Celebrated at CORA Book Party This Sunday

Eleven poets shortlisted for the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature will be celebrated this Sunday at the 17th CORA-Nigeria Prize for Literature Book Party in Lagos.

The event, organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), will take place at the Shell Zenith Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, starting at 1 p.m.

This session will highlight the 11 poetry collections chosen for the longlist of this annual prize, which is supported by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

In April, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the 2026 edition of the competition received 223 entries, with poetry being this year’s genre. The poets on the longlist are:

• Adult Love by Tanure Ojaide;
• Bakandamiya: An Elegy 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 Rasaq Malik Gbolahan;
• The Years of Blood by Adedayo Agarau;
• Unbind Me Now by James Ugwu Eze; and
• Why Does God Need a Gun? by Ogaga Ifowodo.

The Book Party aims to create a discussion between the poets and their readers, with performances and other literary activities. CORA says the event will let the public engage directly with the books that are among the strongest entries in the competition.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature started in 2004 by NLNG to honour outstanding literary works by Nigerian authors. The prize was first worth $20,000, then increased to $50,000, and now stands at $100,000. This makes it one of the richest literary awards in Africa.

Each year, the competition focuses on a different genre, prose fiction, poetry, drama, or children’s literature. The 2026 edition is all about poetry.

The CORA-Nigeria Prize for Literature Book Party comes from CORA’s wider Book Party initiative, which began in 1996. This special event was made to help readers connect with the works submitted for the competition and the writers behind them.

CORA is a group of artists, art lovers, promoters, and writers dedicated to promoting contemporary Nigerian and African arts. The organisation also runs the annual Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF), which will hold from 16 to 22 November this year under the theme, “The WORKOVER Starts, NOW.”

The 2026 CORA-Nigeria Prize for Literature Book Party will also include virtual participants and will be streamed live on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.