Longlisdted Poem: “Because I am Here, I Call Each of These Things a Name”
Joemario Umana (Swan XVII) is a Nigerian creative writer and performance poet who considers himself a wildflower. A Fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship (2023), he is the co-winner of the Folorunsho Editor Poetry Prize (2025) and the second-place winner of the Rhonda Gail Williford Poetry Prize (2025). His works have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Chestnut Review, Orange Blossom Review, and elsewhere. He made it into the finalist pool of the Brooklyn Poets Fellowship (2026) as well as The Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize (2026), and was shortlisted for the Kayode Aderinokun Poetry Prize as well as the Akachi Chukwuemeka Prize for Literature (2025). He currently serves as Poetry Editor at Akpata Magazine and Ekondo Review. When life gives him breathing space, he sees movies, anime and roams the streets of Twitter as @JoemarioU38615.