Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest

It’s our way of celebrating creativity, originality and everything in between.

Genres

Poetry

We love the way poems leave a trace of emotions everywhere. They are words that pierce the soul just to drop a message and even leave some eyes misty. It’s not compulsory to write like Shakespeare, we only need you to provoke our thoughts.

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Flash Fiction

Writers live twice because even when they are no more, their stories do the talking for them. We love wickedly suspenseful fiction with twists here and there. Tell us a unique story, make us believe it’s true and go home with a cash prize.

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”

– Robert Frost

Eligibility Requirements

Age

We are reaching out to the next generation of writers and poets. You must be 21 years or younger as of December 2022. Candidates older than this age will be disqualified automatically.

Location

It’s open to Nigerian residents alone. We are working actively on opening this opportunity to a wider audience but we are currently receiving entries from Nigeria alone.

Submission Guidelines

  • The submitted work must be unpublished before submission.
  • The maximum number of words for the flash fiction category is 1, 500 words.
  • For the poetry category, all poems must have a title.
  • Poems should be original and should not exceed 40 lines.
  • Every contestant is entitled to only ONE category.
  • Format your work as follows: Times New Roman, font 12.
  • All submissions should be submitted using this portal. Alternatively, you can use this link: https://forms.gle/LJ6FQqGivi6yt2h7A
  • Required document: Save the entry in an MS-Word file in this format – “FirstName_LastName_Title of Entry_2022.”

Cash Prizes

  • Winner – N50,000
  • Winner – N50,000

2022 Edition

After the overwhelming success of the previous editions, we are here with open arms to receive thought-provoking entries for the 2022 edition.

Timeline

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Call for Entries Begin

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

Deadline for Submission (23:59 GMT)

DECEMBER 14, 2022

Announcement of the Shortlist for Each Category

DECEMBER 21, 2022

Announcement of the Winners in Each Category

Winner

Poetry

Flash Fiction

  • No winner in this category for this year.

Read comments from our guest judges.

Congrats to the winner!

The Shortlist

This is the shortlist of each category in no particular order.

Poetry

  • “Visiting Hours” by Muiz Ajayi
  • “Wanderlust: Boy” by Muhammed Olowonjoyin
  • “Miracle Mountain” by Timi Sanni
  • “Grief Wants Your Body Like a Lover on a Cold Night” by Ebube Udeoba

Flash Fiction 

  • None of the flash fiction entries qualified to be on our shortlist.

Congratulations to all whose entries made the shortlist!

The Judges

Flash Fiction

Joshua Chizoma

Joshua Chizoma was a finalist for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, and the 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prize. He won the 2021 Ken Saro Wiwa Prize for Review, the 2020 Awele Creative Trust Short Story Prize and the 2018 Kreative Diadem Prize in the Flash Fiction Category. His works have been published or are forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Lolwe, AFREADA, Entropy Magazine, Anathema Magazine, Agbowo Magazine, Prachya Review and elsewhere. He is an alumnus of the 2019 Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop taught by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and has a law degree from the University of Nigeria.

Poetry

Praise Osawaru

Praise Osawaru (he/him) is a writer of Bini descent. A Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Nina Riggs Poetry Award nominee, his work appears in Agbowó, FIYAH, Frontier Poetry, Down River Road, The Maine Review, and Uncanny Magazine, among others. He’s the first-place winner of the 2021 Valiant Scribe Poetry Prize and a finalist for the 2021 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize & the 2021 Dan Veach Prize For Younger poets. He’s a Contributing Editor for Barren Magazine and a reader for Chestnut Review. Find him on Instagram & Twitter: @wordsmithpraise. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/wordsmithpraise.

Guest Judges

Arthur Anyaduba

Joshua Chizoma

Flash Fiction

Praise Osawaru

Poetry

Previous Editions

As we march into the sixth year of our annual creative writing contest, here are the numbers from previous editions.

2021 Edition in Numbers

Poems

Flash Fiction Stories

Guest Judges

Winners

Meet Agbai Ematerry Chinonso

Winner of 2021 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Flash Fiction Category)

Chiwenite Onyekwelu

Meet Abdulmueed Balogun

Winner of 2021 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

Winners

Poetry

Flash Fiction

Read comments from our guest judges.

Congrats to all the winners!

The Shortlist

This is the shortlist of each category in no particular order.

Poetry

  • “Euphemism” by Samuel A. Adeyemi
  • “Overuse” by Chijindu Terrence James-Ibe
  • “Elocutio” by Olaitan Junaid
  • “It is Hope That Keeps the Flame of Dreams Dancing” by Balogun Abdulmueed
  • “Sunrise” by Chinedu Gospel

Flash Fiction 

  • “Her Baby” by Ndukwe Uchenna
  • “One Dark Night” by Oloruntobi Ayomikun
  • “And That’s How They Become Beautiful” by Mhembeuter Jeremiah Orhemba
  • “A Matching Pair” by Agbai Emmaterry Chinonso

Congratulations to all whose entries made the shortlist!

The Judges

Flash Fiction

Jerry Chiemeke

Jerry Chiemeke is an editor, entertainment journalist, author and lawyer. His works have appeared in publications like The Johannesburg Review of BooksThe RepublicInlandia Journal, Netng, The Guardian and Agbowo, among others
 
Jerry is the winner of the 2017 Ken Saro Wiwa Prize for Criticism, and a recipient of the 2019 Connect Nigeria Award for Excellence. In August 2021, he was invited to cover the Blackstar International Film Festival, the world’s biggest event for filmmakers of colour.
 
Jerry is the editor-in-chief at Afrocritik, a pan-African media platform that focuses on music, film and culture. He is the author of the short story collection Dreaming Of Ways To Understand You, and the poetry chapbook Notes for Nnedimma.

Poetry

Ernest Ògúnyẹmí

Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí is a writer, editor, and literary journalist from Nigeria. His works have recently appeared/ are forthcoming in AGNI, Joyland, No Tokens, Agbowó, Southern Humanities Review, the Minnesota Review, the Dark, the McNeese Review, West Trade Review, among other places. He is a staff writer at Open Country Mag.

2020 Edition in Numbers

Poems

Flash Fiction Stories

Guest Judges

Winners

Meet Daniel Ogba

Winner of 2020 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Flash Fiction Category)

Chiwenite Onyekwelu

Meet Chiwenite Onyekwelu

Winner of 2020 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

The Shortlist

This is the shortlist of our top seven in each category in no particular order.

Poetry

  • “She Stared Back at Us with Her Eyes Closed” by Amarachi Victoria Iwuafor
  • “Melody of Anarchy” by Ajani Samuel Victor
  • “In the name of Transcendentals” by Ibe Obasiota Ben
  • “This Thing Called Death” by Blessing Anaso
  • “Hydrology” by Chiwenite Onyekwelu
  • “in which my dead grandfather calls yet again through the mouth of a door” by Mayowa Oyewale
  • “Grieving, my body feels like laughter caught young in its youth” by Chukwu Emmanuel

Flash Fiction

  • “Moments Before We Die” by Yvonne Nezianya
  • “May My Words Be Taken to You” by Sobur Adedokun
  • “Verses of Silence” by Timi Sanni
  • “A Feeling with no Name” by Chiamaka Ejiofor                    
  • “Sing about me I’m Dying of Thirst” by Daniel Ogba
  • “This Too Shall Pass” by Jesutomisin Ipinmoye
  • “Fluttering Hope” by Miracle Chidera Odigwe                                   
The Judges

Flash Fiction

Dr. Arthur Anyaduba

Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba is an assistant professor of English at the University of Winnipeg, Canada. He is also a beleaguered writer constantly drowning in his own stories. 

Poetry

Nome Emeka Patrick

Nome Emeka Patrick is a blxck bxy; he graduated from University of Benin, where he studied English Language and Literature. His works have been published or forthcoming in POETRY, Poet Lore, Strange Horizons, Black Warrior Review, Beloit poetry journal, The FIDDLEHEAD, Notre Dame Review, The Malahat Review, Puerto Del Sol, McNeese Review, Mud Season Review and elsewhere. A Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Pushcart Prize nominee. His manuscript ‘We Need New Moses. Or New Luther King’ was a finalist for the 2019 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. He guest-edited, alongside Itiola Jones, Young African Poets Anthology. He reads poetry submissions for Palette Poetry. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

2019 Edition in Numbers

Poems

Flash Fiction Stories

Guest Judges

Winners

Meet Nneoma Mbalewe

Winner of 2019 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Flash Fiction Category)

Anthony Okpunor

Meet Anthony Okpunor

Winner of 2019 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

The Shortlist

This is the shortlist of our top six in each category in no particular order.

Poetry

  • “What is Your Body”  by Onyekwelu Chiwenite.
  • “Ode to Our Body on Fire”  by Anthony Okpunor.
  • “Grief Will Remake”  by Ernest Ogunyemi.
  • “How Last Tuesday Became Black Tuesday”  by Praise Osawaru.
  • “Remember Us”  by Chibueze Obunadike.
  • “Falling Waters”  by Lade Falobi.

Flash Fiction

  • “How Bodies Become Fluid” by Obasiota Ben Ibe.
  • “To Pull a Lion’s Tail” by Boloere Seibidor.
  • “Born Again” by Tunji Akande.
  • “Ayomide” by Nneoma Mbalewe.
  • “The Fallen Angel” by Ebeigbe Brian.
  • “Shey Sugar Wey Enter Tea Dey Come Out” by Ife Olatona.

 

The Judges

Poetry

Kechi Nomu

Kechi Nomu lives in Lagos. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Ploughshares (Blog), Cosmonauts Avenue, The Commuter, Interrupture, The Bangalore Review, openDemocracy and elsewhere. Her work examining borders and memory has been exhibited by Invisible Borders in collaboration with Apexart, New York. Her poetry chapbook “Acts of Crucifixion” was published by Akashic Books and APBF in 2018. She is a Brunel International African Poetry Prize finalist.

Flash Fiction

None – Judged internally

2018 Edition in Numbers

Poems

Flash Fiction Stories

Guest Judges

Winners

Meet Chizoma Emeka Joshua

Winner of 2018 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Flash Fiction Category)

Meet Onyedikachi Chinedu

Winner of 2018 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

The Shortlist

This is the shortlist of our top five in each category in no particular order.

Poetry

  • Girls like you have no history by Angel Nwobodo.
  • My father hew out himself on my skin by CJ Onyedikachi.
  • She forgets she’s a woman Abu Bakr Sadiq.
  • The city is my family by Michael Ifeanyi Akuchie.
  • What to imagine by Yusuff Uthman Adekola.

Flash Fiction

  • Souls and smoke by Justin Clement.
  • The skin of other women by Chukwuebuka Ibeh Leonard.
  • The house called joy by Chizoma Emeka Joshua.
  • Aneesah by Sobur Olalekan.
  • The step breaks your confidence by Ezinne Okeke.
The Judges

Poetry

Wale Owoade

Wale Owoade is a poet, journalist and critic. His works have been published in African American Review, Poet Lore, The Brooklyn Review, Transition, Guernica, Spillway, among others. He is the Founder and Managing Editor of  EXPOUND and has received the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. He has edited and co-edited two poetry anthologies, Black Communion (2014) and Petals and Granite (2017). Wale is a scholar of the World History Institute (Tokyo) in 2016 and was invited for the Callaloo Writers Workshop at Oxford University in 2017. He currently writes on music, film and pop culture for The AfrovibePan African Music and Omenka Magazine.     

Flash Fiction

TJ Benson

TJ Benson is a Nigerian writer and creative photographer whose work has appeared in several online journals like Jalada Africa, Expound and Bakwa magazine: in print magazines like Transition Magazine and more recently Saraba’s ‘Transitions’ issue. His chapbook of photography ‘Rituals’ was published in downloadable PDF on Sankofa Magazine in 2015. His short story ‘An Abundance of Yellow Paper’ was the joint winner of the Amab-HBF contest in 2016 and this collection was shortlisted for the Saraba Manuscript Prize. The collection is to be published by Parresia in September 2018. He is the first runner up for the 2016 Short Story Day Africa Prize themed ‘Migration’ and he is a two time writer-in-residence at the Ebedi Writers Residency Nigeria. He currently resides in Abuja.

2017 Edition in Numbers

Poems

Flash Fiction Stories

Guest Judges

Winners

Meet Olakunle Ologunro

Winner of 2017 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Flash Fiction Category)

Meet Chiamaka Nwangwu

Winner of 2017 Kreative Diadem Annual Creative Writing Contest (Poetry Category)

The Shortlist
Poetry Category 
  • Breast Cancer by Omobashorun Agbalagba
  • A Bonfire on a Midsummer Night by Oluebube Ubah
  • A Letter to Nabeelah by Abdurrahman Adedokun
  • Little Boys are Large Exit Doors by Wale Ayinla
  • Only a Child by Ikhenoba Deborah
  • Lights Out by Chiamaka Nwangwu
  • Black Woo Man by Olawale Ibiyemi
  • An Installation of Memory by Anifowoshe Ibrahim
  • Things Your Uncle Left Inside You by Stephen Ogunfoworin
  • Adedamola by Saliu Fathia
Flash Fiction Category 
  • Charlotte by Jayeola Abdulhakeem
  • A thousand Words for Maggie by Paul Akaogu
  • Stretched Silence by Okechi Okeke
  • Imole by Olakunle Ologunro
  • Let the Day Break by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
  • No Peace for the Wicked by Ada Nnadi
  • Possessed by Okoronkwo Ijeoma
  • Racing Stars by Okhuosami Umar
  • Innocent Justice by Atere Oluwatimilehin
  • In Memory of Chris by Ene Ogaba
The Judges
Poetry
Okwudili Nebeolisa (Award-winning poet)
Okwudili Nebeolisa’s works have appeared in Commonwealth Writers, Threepenny Review, The Cincinnati Review, Salamander Magazine, Ruminate Magazine, Transition Magazine and Ambit Magazine. He was a finalist for the 2017 Erbacce Prize and won the joint second place in the Okot P Bitek Prize for African Poetry in Translation, and won the Jalada Prize for African Literature in the poetry category. He was a 2016 Ebedi fellow at the Ebedi Writer’s Residency.
Flash Fiction 
Su’eddie Vershima Agema (Award-winning writer)
Su’eddie Vershima Agema (Su’ur Agema) is a Development Worker, Editor, Cultural Enthusiast and Executive Officer at SEVHAGE Publishers (an imprint of Vershage). He is the immediate past Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (Benue State Chapter) and a council member of the ANA National Teen Authorship Scheme. He is also the Team Leader of the SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative. Su’eddie has a passion for promoting Nigerian literature and has conducted and facilitated different workshops on literature, development and leadership for youths and teenagers. He is a traveller, loves making friends and loving. If he would let go of sentiments and literary commitments, he would write a hundred books in a year.

Su’eddie was Joint-Winner, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Poetry Prize 2014 with his collection, Home Equals Holes: Tale of an Exile. He is the author of BRING OUR CASKET HOME: Tales one shouldn’t tell ( a collection of poetry hailed by critics as deep and pleasantly different). Su’eddie was longlisted for the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Award (2013) and shortlisted for the PEN Nigeria/Saraba Poetry Award 2013. He was also named as one of the ‘Top 50 Contemporary Poets who rocked Nigeria in Year 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016). His collection of short stories, The Bottom of another Tale was shortlisted for the Association of Nigerian Authors Prose Prize 2014 and Abubakar Gimba Prize for Short Stories 2015. He won the Mandela Day Short Story Prize 2016 with his short story, ‘Washing the Earth’

Su’eddie has a BA in English (and Literature) and an M.Sc in Development Studies from the Benue State University, Makurdi, Su’eddie takes a special interest in the various faces of humor in life and literature. He has a keen interest in African and Post-Colonial and New Writings and has written/published some research on them. He is currently reading, writing and finding the next door. He loves making friends and is open to criticism. He is on Facebook too…
You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram as @sueddieagema

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