Nigerian Speculative Poet, Abu Bakr Sadiq, Wins 2023 Sillerman Prize for Poetry

by | Aug 7, 2023 | Gist Corner


Abu Bakr Sadiq, a 25 year old Nigerian poet, has been declared winner of this year’s Sillerman Prize for poetry. Marked as the eleventh recipient of the prize, Sadiq will receive a $1000 cash award and publication of his manuscript, “Leaked Footages”, as part of the African Poetry Book Series by the University of Nebraska Press. 

Members of this year’s judging panel included: Chris Abani, Gabeba Baderoon, Bernadine Evaristo, Aracelis Girmay, John Keene, Matthew Shenoda, and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, with Kwame Dawes, Director of the African Poetry Book Fund and the Schooner’s Editor-in-Chief. Unanimously, they chose Abu Bakr’s work as winner and expressed their impression of his manuscript. Award-winning author and translator John Keene praised “Leaked Footages,” writing that the manuscript’s “Afrofuturist, speculative approach, conveyed by a Nigerian Muslim speaker, feels refreshing and suggests a distinctive, compelling perspective.” In the same vein, the following manuscripts were named finalist:

“Tresspass” by Jamila Osman (Somalia)   

“Year of Blood” by Adedayo Agarau (Nigeria)

“Our Weary Talons” by Gracia Mwamba (Congo)

Abu Bakr Sadiq is a Nigerian poet born and raised in Minna. He is currently an undergraduate student at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Sadiq is the winner of the 2022 IGNYTE award for Best Speculative Poetry and a finalist for the 2023 Evaristo Prize for African Poetry. His work has been nominated for the SFPA Rhysling Award and for a Pushcart Prize, and has been published in Boston Review, The Fiddlehead, MIZNA, FIYAH, Palette Poetry, Uncanny Magazine, Augur Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, and elsewhere.

The Sillerman Prize, established in 2013, is administered and awarded annually by The African Poetry Book Fund in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press. It is dedicated to celebrating and championing emerging African poets, from the continent and the African diaspora. Previous winners over the years have been Tares Oburumu in 2022 for “origins of the syma species,” Sherry Shenoda in 2021 for “Mummy Eaters” and Cheswayo Mphanza in 2020 for “The Rinehart Frames.”

Read the full announcement here.