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I cannot describe how I am feeling. I have been longlisted for the inaugural cycle of the Alhaji Arole Agarawu African Poetry Prize and shortlisted for the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize for Nonfiction . I do not know why I am so euphoric. Perhaps it is because I used to struggle to get published in journals and, as I said sometime back on X, I received 12 rejections in a day. Or probably because I can finally add something to my CV under awards and achievements. Words cannot describe how seeing my name in the top 10 or seeing my name among the top 30 has made me feel. For the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize, I wrote an essay about how the loss of a father can lead to wrong decisions while trying to picture the image of the father. This same piece has been rejected numerous times, so I was genuinely surprised when the SBLP judges added it to the shortlist. Then, for the Poetry Prize, I was so happy to see my friend, Joel Oyeleke, whom I met on X when I was struggling to publish...
