Our Poet K. Eltinaé shortlisted for the Luschei Prize for African Poetry!

Luschei Prize for African Poetry awarded to Togara Muzanenhamo – African Poetry Book Fund (unl.edu)

Togara Muzanenhamo was born in Zambia and brought up in Zimbabwe. He has studied in France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. His poems have appeared widely in international journals and magazines. His debut poetry collection Spirit Brides (Carcanet, 2006) was shortlisted for the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. An Irish Times Best Poetry Books of the Year and a Poetry Society Autumn Recommendation, Virga is Muzanenhamo’s fourth collection of poetry. He lives in Norton, Zimbabwe, on his family’s farm.

Virga is available for purchase online from Carcanet and bookstores that carry Carcanet Poetry titles.

In addition to the winning book, Shenoda notes three finalists: The Moral Judgement of Butterflies by K. Eltinaé (Eyewear Publishing), An/Other Pastoral by Tjawangwa Dema (No Bindings), and The River in the Belly by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Deep Vellum).

Shedona says that “Eltinaé, Dema, and Mujila remain testaments of the incredibly diverse and polyphonic aesthetics of contemporary African poetry and the incredibly rich landscapes they create. In each of their works we see the ways a poet can weave the knotted and complex realities of race, geography, gender, and language moving across time and space to articulate what it means to be alive in the slipstreams of history and migration.”

The Luschei Prize for African Poetry, funded by literary philanthropist and poet Glenna Luschei and the only pan-African book prize of its kind, promotes African poetry written in English or in translation by recognizing a significant book published each year by an African poet.

The 2023 Luschei Prize for African Poetry will open to submissions of books by African poets published during 2022 on May 1.