Michael Imossan
“All That Refuses to Die”
Michael Imossan is a Nigerian poet, playwright, and editor of Ibibio origin. His debut collection All That Refuses to Die was selected for publication by the University of Nebraska Press via the African Poetry Book Fund after winning the 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. His chapbook For the Love of Country and Memory was co-winner of the 2022 Nigerian News Direct Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in Electric Literature, Frontier Poetry, Chestnut Review, and elsewhere.
Michael Imossan is a Nigerian poet, playwright, and editor of Ibibio origin whose work explores themes of grief, loss, pain, family, country, self-realization, love, and nature. His trajectory from Unserious Collective Fellow to Sillerman Prize winner represents the kind of emerging talent the fellowship was designed to support.
His debut full-length collection All That Refuses to Die, selected for the 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, will be published by the University of Nebraska Press via the African Poetry Book Fund. His chapbook For the Love of Country and Memory (Poetrycolumnnd, 2022) and pamphlet A Prelude to Caving (Konyashamsrumi, 2023) established him as a significant voice in contemporary African poetry.
His work has been nominated for the Forward Prizes for Poetry, Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in prestigious venues including Electric Literature, Frontier Poetry, Chestnut Review, Lucent Dreaming, and Inscape (BYU).
Michael Imossan's poetry confronts grief, loss, and the persistence of memory with unflinching honesty. His work demonstrates the kind of brilliant and daring poetry that the Unserious Collective Fellowship seeks to recognize, and his subsequent Sillerman Prize victory validates the fellowship's mission of identifying exceptional emerging talent.
- 2023 Unserious Collective Fellow
- 2024 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
- Co-winner, 2022 Nigerian News Direct Poetry Prize
- 2022 Radical Arts Endless Sky Competition Winner
- 2022 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize Winner
- Forward Prizes for Poetry Nominee
- Best of the Net Nominee
- Pushcart Prize Nominee
- Electric Literature Publication
- Frontier Poetry Publication
- Electric Literature
- Frontier Poetry
- Chestnut Review
- Lucent Dreaming
- Ake Review
- Inscape (BYU)
- Konya Shamsrumi
- Sans.Press
- Lumiere Review
Preparing his debut collection 'All That Refuses to Die' for publication by the University of Nebraska Press via the African Poetry Book Fund
Timi Sanni
“Fragments of Memory”Multidisciplinary artist and multiple poetry contest winner.
Chiwenite Onyekwelu
“Urban Psalms”Jack Grapes Poetry Prize winner with lighthearted sensibility.
Samuel A. Adeyemi
“River Songs”New-Generation African Poets selection by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani.
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi
“Mouthful with Cinders”Medical student and poet. APBF New-Generation African Poets selection.