Nigerian poet and creative writer Joemario Umana has taken first place in the 2026 Fare Forward Poetry Competition with his poem, Dust and Wonder. Umana, who writes under the name Swan XVII and describes himself as a “wildflower,” emerged ahead of Rachel E. Hicks, who placed second with Simeon (After), and Matthew Pullar, who took third place with Hide Me in Your Wounds. Bradford Skow and Nigerian poet Chiwenite Onyekwelu received Honourable Mentions.

Umana is a shortlistee of the 2024 Sophon Lit poetry contest and the 2025 Akachi Chukwuemeka Prize for Literature. His work has appeared in journals including Trampset, Strange Horizons and Isele Magazine. For winning, he receives $350, publication of Dust and Wonder on Fare Forward, a custom letterpress broadside designed and printed by Scale House Print Shop, and publication in The Still Point poetry anthology.

The Fare Forward Poetry Competition is an annual contest organised by Fare Forward, an ecumenical Christian review of ideas founded in 2012. Although the publication is Christian, the competition welcomes different forms of poetry and does not restrict entries to religious work. The 2026 competition awarded $350 to the first-place winner, $200 to second place and $150 to third place, while two Honourable Mentions received $75 each, alongside publication opportunities.

Author