Longlisted Poem: “Language as a Foreign Deity”
Chisom Okoronkwo is a Nigerian-Scottish writer and spoken word artist. She holds a First Class degree in English Language and Literature and is the recipient of the 2024 African Excellence Award from the University of Glasgow, where she earned an MLitt in Creative Writing (Distinction). Her work has appeared in Brittle Paper, Isele Magazine, Ake Review, Blue Marble Review, and Lunar Journal, among others. She is the winner of the 2023 Shuzia Journey of the Soul Poetry Contest, and has been shortlisted for the Isele Short Story Prize and the Glasgow Women’s Library Bold Types Competition, as well as longlisted for the Bournemouth Writing Prize and The Writers’ Prize. She has performed at the Acid Cabaret Show (2025), Edinburgh International Poetry Festival (2026), University of Glasgow Creative Writing Festival (2026), Creative of Colours Festival (2026) and Scottish Ecological Design Association Conference(2026). She is a current member of Glasgow City of Poets.