Longlisted Poem: Untitled Entry
SIMON AKPAMA is a recently graduated Dentist from the University of Calabar, and a poet whose creative and professional pursuits converge around the theme of healing and love. He believes that dentistry and poetry share a common language of restoration, care, and attention to detail. His journey through dental school deepened his fascination with the delicate relationship between pain and recovery – a dynamic that he expresses in his writing. SIMON’s works explore the quiet intersections of body and spirit, examining how memory, identity, and human connection shape our understanding of wellness and wholeness. Drawing from personal experience and his keen observation of the world around him, he seeks to find beauty in the abused and overlooked, and tenderness in the ordinary. Beyond the dental chair, SIMON is passionate about storytelling in verse.