The Brunel International Poetry Prize will now be known as The Evaristo African Poetry Prize, in honour of poet, writer and literary critic Bernadine Evaristo.
Founded by Bernadine Evaristo in 2013, the formerly called Brunel Poetry Prize had as a primary aim the discovery of new and emerging voices on the continent with the general aim of grooming them into poets with an international presence.
That aim has been largely achieved as the recipients of the award include names like Warsan Shire, who was the main poet behind Beyonce’s monologues in her album Lemonade, Theresa Lolo, Gbenga Adeshina and critically acclaimed poet Romeo Oriogun.
Evaristo, a writer and author of the critically acclaimed novel Girl, Woman, Other will relinquish the position of being the main administrator of the prize to Kwame Dawes, fellow poet and professor.
This is happening after almost a decade of overseeing the prize.
Therefore, as a way to honour her contributions to keeping the Brunel prize alive, it has been renamed The Evaristo Prize.
The Evaristo prize will be administered by Kwame Dawes under the African Poetry Book Fund, which is the parent body administering The Luschei Prize and The Sillerman Prize as well.
According to The University of Nebraska’s official website, The Brunel International African Poetry Prize recently closed its submission window and will announce the winner of the prize in May 2022. The Evaristo African Poetry Prize will begin accepting submissions by African poets in October 2022.