Longlisted Poem: “Father Figurine”
Chinwenite Kingsley Onyekwelu is a Nigerian poet and pharmacist. He is the author of the poetry chapbook, Exiled (Red Bird, 2025). His poems appear in Hudson Review, Cincinnati Review, Rattle, Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. He won the 2026 Blossom Poetry Contest and was a finalist for the Gregory Djanikian Poetry Scholarship as well as the Quarterly West Annual Poetry Contest. He was also a finalist for the 2025 Evaristo Prize for African Poetry and the Black Warrior Review Summer Poetry Contest. Chiwenite won the 2024 After the End Poetry Prize organized at Oxford University, Prism International’s Pacific Spirit Poetry Contest, as well as the Hudson Review Frederick Morgan Poetry Prize. He has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize. Chiwenite holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria.