By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
The Adinkra Poetry Prize has announced its call for poetry submissions that will engage with three out of the over 200 existing Adinkra Symbols, Fihankra, Nkyinkyim, and Mate Masie.
Applicants for this year’s Adinkra Poetry Prize are to inculcate into their poetic piece words that will incite change. This year, the organisers are looking for poetry that serves as a song for change, a chant, a prayer, a potential new national anthem, or guidelines to hold citizens accountable to our nation and themselves.
Writers are encouraged to submit their poetic expressions, with each poem responding to or thoughtfully engaging with the chosen Adinkra symbols within the context of Ghana’s current political and socio-economic landscape. The competition is open to writers aged 18 and above who are Ghanaian citizens currently residing in Ghana.
The deadline for submission of poetic works is slated for February 15, 2024, at exactly 11:59 p.m. Winners in each category will receive an amount of $200.00, with three finalists receiving $70.00, respectively. Preliminary judges for this edition are Emma Ofosua, Apiorkor, and Ko-jo Cue. The head judge for the prize is Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy.
Finalists and winners will be officially announced in May 2024 and will be invited to an awards ceremony at the prestigious All African Women Poetry Festival. Finalists will also have the opportunity to apply for the WaterMill Residency. Select submissions will be considered for publication in a digital anthology. For the written submissions, the writers will be asked to transcribe their work for publication.
Interested applicants are to visit: www.theadinkraprojects.org
