We are thrilled to announce the longlisted entries of the annual Akachi Chukwuemeka prize for literature. This literary prize, worth 100,000 naira, will be awarded to a single poem by an African writer, that raises awareness about mental health and at the same time demonstrates the transforming power of literature.

• 1.Revelations – Absquatulation Of (Stranded) Soulsby Babatunde O. David
• 2. Elegiac by Chidera Harrison
• 3. You Have Got Mail by Dera Udochukwu
• 4. Dialogue Titled after a Boy in Despair by Okoli Stephen Nonso
• 5. How to Walk on Water with Father by Osagiede Best
• 6. Morning Rituals and how to Contain Chaos by Aishat Yahkub
• 7. Self Portrait as Wild Potatoes in Ma’s Garden that always Regrow to Mock the Sharpness of the Hoeby Eliongema Udofia
• 8. The Labyrinth by Gospel Chinedu
• 9. A Dream of Wonder by Osahon Oka
• 10. Homecoming by Fadairo Tesleem
• 11. A Sinkhole is an Aperture to Glory by Osieka Osinimu
• 12. Portrait as an Anti-ballast by Chinemerem P. Nwankwo
• 13. Akachi’s Diary: My Chatbox by Ojo Olumide Emmanuel 
• 14. Meditations on Dying by Samuel A. Adeyemi
• 15. A Recipe for Healing  by John Ebute
• 16. what spoiled this poem is the alarm of loss by S. Abdulwasi’h Olaitan
• 17. The Last Trauma Poem by H. B. Asari
• 18. Epithalamion in a body by I Echo
• 19. In this World, there is Nothing but Something by Abdul-Aziz M. Inuwa
• 20.Leaking Boat by Abdulbasit Oluwanishola
• 21. I Deserve a Soft Life by Ayòdéjì Israel
• 22. Declaration of Existence by Fatima Abdullahi 
• 23. half pill, half flower, half music by Fasasi Ridwan
• 24. My Palms are Forward for Mercy by Fortune Eleojo Simeon
• 25. Calligraphy of Psychotic Butterflies in my Body by AbubakarAuwal

Shortlisted entries will be announced on 11th May, 2024. All long-listed entries will be published by Arts Lounge, in a collection to be released on the theme of mental health, later this year.