Ibiteye Overcomer Ibiaduradara is the winner of the AUGUST/SEPTEMBER edition of the bi-monthly Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC). Ibiteye’s soulful poem To Bleed Colors emerged 1st place winner ahead of 2nd placed A Birth of Disappointment by Glorious Kate Akpegah and 3rd-placed Echoes of Eden by Jewo Oghenetega.
Ibiteye, a first-time BPPC winner, is an alumnus of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship and winner of the 2020 Shuzia Prize for Poetry. Her works have appeared on various literary platforms.
BPPC awards ₦30,000 in prize money shared among the top three entries. In addition, the top 10 poems are automatically entered for the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) 2021. The other poets in the top 10 of the August/September edition with Ibiteye, Kate and Jewo are Ayobami Kayode Tijani Ah’mad, Bryan Joe Okwesili, ‘Mbagu Valentine, Olajuwon Joseph Olumide, Hussani Abdulrahim, Abiona Michelle Eniola, and Shola Balogun.
The TOP 20 poems of the edition are published in a chapbook titled ‘TO BLEED COLORS’.
WINNERS’ PROFILES
OVERCOMER IBITEYE is a Nigerian poet, and writer. She won the Shuzia Prize for Poetry in August 2021. An alumnus of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship, Ibitoye’s works have appeared in the Litfest and Xpressit anthologies, Shuzia Magazine and TVO Tribe. She currently volunteers with literary communities to organize literary events.
GLORIOUS KATE AKPEGAH is a Nigerian writer. Currently a medical student at the University of Calabar, Akpegah enjoys reading and writing poems. Some of her works are published or forthcoming in Spillwords, The Hearth, Pawners Paper, Petals and Pitfalls Anthology and her Instagram page @gloriousakpegah.
JEWO OGHENETEGA is a Nigerian writer, poet, and spoken words artist. A self-described spiritual right activist and believer in the power of words, Oghenetega writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
The BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST is a writing contest aimed at rewarding the under-appreciated talent of young Nigerian poets. It was instituted in February 2015 in honour of Brigitte Poirson, a French poet and lecturer, editor, who has over the years worked assiduously to promote and support African poetry. The BPPC is one of Nigeria’s most popular, especially among the younger poets.
