Hussani Abdulrahim is the winner of the July 2019 edition of the monthly Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC) for young writers. The edition was themed ‘EXPRESS YOURSELF’.
Hussani, a Pure Chemistry undergraduate student at Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria, won the contest with an original romantic piece entitled I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO LOVE YOU MORE. The poem beat WHAT IS LEFT OF WHAT IS RIGHT by Ogedengbe Tolulope Impact and LIARS IN THEIR LAIRS by Oladimeji Adam Adedayo to 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Hussani has received several recognitions for his writings, including WRR Green Author Prize 2016 (joint-winner), 2018 Africa Book Club short story contest (winner), for Nigerian Students Poetry Prize 2019 (shortlisted), Ken Egas Poetry Prize 2018 (shortlisted), Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2018 (shortlisted), Wordiators Championship 2018 first runner-up, 2018 ANA Kano/Peace Panel Poetry Prize (winner). His works have appeared in journals and anthologies and he writes with the belief that words have the power to heal the world of its numerous ills.
Below is the winning poem:
I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO LOVE YOU MORE by HUSSANI ABDULRAHIM
Because whenever I try to Love you more,
I realize how I've reached
the last words in my manual of wits.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that I already love you in a way
that is beyond existence.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that I am already trying
so hard to love you more than I love you.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that your name has crowded the spaces
in my heart and there's no room to add a novel term
in the dictionary of my love for you.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that it is the very thing
I have been doing from the beginning,
and to love you more is to return to the beginning.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that I love you more
than the intimacy between two pines leaning into each other,
and the romance between moon and stars,
and the chemistry between the ocean reflecting the sky.
Because whenever I try to love you more,
I realize that the more I try,
the more I realize that I can't love you more,
because I already love you more than I can ever love you
READ ALL THE TOP 30 POEMS IN “I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO LOVE YOU MORE“ CHAPBOOK. DOWNLOAD BELOW:
Hussani will be awarded the N8000 prize money and, alongside the other TOP 10 finalists from February to September 2019, will be automatically entered for the 2019 ALBERT JUNGERS POETRY PRIZE (AJPP) in addition to receiving a certificate and a copy of the BPPC 2019 anthology at the Words Rhymes & Rhythm Literary Festival 2018. All the top 10 poems for the 2019 Season will be published in the BPPC 2019 anthology while the top 30 poems are featured in “I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO LOVE YOU MORE“ chapbook. The finalists will also each receive certificates at the Words Rhymes & Rhythm Literary Festival held in December every year.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER FOR THE AUGUST 2019 EDITION
The BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST, a brainchild of Words Rhymes & Rhythm (WRR), is a monthly writing contest aimed at rewarding the under-appreciated talent of young Nigerian poets. It was instituted in February 2015 in honor of Brigitte Poirson, a French poet and lecturer, editor, who has over the years worked assiduously to promote and support African poetry. Now in its third season as one of the few credible contests for poets, the BPPC has since grown to be one of country’s most popular, especially among the younger poets.
