25/07/2026
We are proud to be back on the The Nigeria Prizes longlist with our poetry book, CORPUS!
In CORPUS, poetry becomes both pilgrimage and witness. It is rooted in Yoruba cosmology and animated by the rhythms of African memory. These poems journey through beginnings, identity, longing, migration, love, grief, and mortality with remarkable clarity and emotional depth.
From the sacred wisdom of Odù to the quiet reckonings of everyday life, CORPUS explores the invisible threads that bind the living to their ancestors, the individual to community, and the temporal to the eternal. Each poem asks us to look more deeply; not only at the world around us, but at the unseen landscapes within ourselves.
Lyrical, contemplative, and profoundly human, CORPUS is an invitation to inhabit life’s mysteries with courage, tenderness, and wonder. It is a collection that reminds us that while everybody returns to dust, each of us leave behind a unique contribution worth remembering. We are here because others were.
Ayo Oyeku doesn't just write poems, he writes animistic verses too! We are rooting for him all the way to the finish line.
Many thanks to the NPL judges and administration for the consideration.
