Niyi Osundare Becomes First African Cover Poet For World Poetry Magazine

Niyi Osundare, a Nigerian multiple award-winning poet, has been selected as cover poet and headliner on World Poetry, a magazine of the World Poetry Movement.

Osundare will feature in the fifth edition of the magazine and is the first African to be so chosen. A selection of Osundare’s poems will be published in the latest edition of the magazine.

The announcement was made in a January 15 email to Osundare by Cao Shui, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of China’s Boao International Poetry Festival and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of World Poetry.

In his reply, Osundare thanked World Poetry Movement for the honour.

Niyi Osundare is a poet, dramatist, linguist, and literary critic. Born on March 12, 1947, in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria. He is regarded as one of Africa’s most renowned poets.

Osundare has published over 18 books of poetry, two books of selected poems, four plays, a book of essays, numerous monographs and articles published in over 70 journals and magazines across the world.

He has received many prizes and awards, including the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) prize, the Cadbury/ANA Prize (twice), the Commonwealth poetry prize, the Noma Award, Tchicaya U Tam’si prize for African poetry (Africa’s highest poetry award), among others.