The Joe Ushie Poetry Prize is a literary award established to honor the legacy of Professor Joseph Akawu Ushie – a distinguished poet, literary scholar and seasoned educator in the Department of English, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
The Prize celebrates excellence in poetry and encourages emerging and established poets to share their voices, while fostering a vibrant literary community. The Prize is an initiative of the Joe Ushie Literature Foundation, and it confers a $500 (USD) cash award on the author of the best submitted poem in a given year.
“Some days” (xxiii)
(to Akawu)
Some days know
the secret leaning of the heart
their auricles are acres of clay
watered by the kindest dew
their music the beat of every pulse
smiles grow in the garden of their lips
there is grace in their greeting
bliss in their blessing
a merciful moon sits
in the centre of their night
their hours ripen
in the shadows of a generous sun
when they pass
houses throw open their doors
flowers drape them
in their rarest fragrance
for them tenderness is no treason
compassion is no constraint
some days
are not allergic to softness
some days
are not afraid of being human
Niyi Osundare, The Norton Anthology of World Poetry (2012, p. 1206)
The finalists and winner of the 2026 competition can be found here!
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The Joe Ushie Literature Foundation and the University of Calabar Press hereby invite chapters for the volume, Critical Perspectives on Joe Ushie, under the distinguished editorship of Dr Rome Aboh, Dr Eyoh Etim, and Dr Mathias Iroro Orhero. The volume is dedicated to honouring the life and legacy of one of Nigeria’s foremost poets… Read more