When Women Speak is a collection 24 women poets who are starlets of the Nigerian poetry environment arising from their shortlist in the 2024 Wakaso Prize for Women in Nigeria. It is sponsored by Aisha Wakaso, a veteran journalist and girl-child activist from Niger State.
Three editions took place in 2024 with a total of over 300 entries from across the country. The thirty poems in the collection are the best chosen by nurses poets, including Saddiq Dzukogi, an assistant professor, Mississippi University; Dr. Ola Ifatimehin, BUK, Kano and Ojo Olumide Emmanuel, Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation.
The anthology was edited by Zaynab Ilyasu Bobi and Ojo Olumide Emmanuel with blurbs from Star Zahra and Rahma Jimoh.
The Wakaso Chapbook Series is an anthology of young women with huge promise that will boost the corpus of women-poets in Nigeria. It is in continuation of the philosophy of the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation to continue to discover and promote young talented writers in Nigeria. It will be an annual series with the 2025 editions starting from July. The date for the formal release and public presentation would be announced later this month.
Our special gratitude goes to the sponsor of the quarterly prize and the book for creating this platform for Nigerian young women writers.
