Authors' Hub presents the 17th edition of its Monthly Panel Discussion Via Google Meet.

Topic: Beyond Aesthetics: What Does African Society Expect from Its Poets

Date: Sat., 26th Sept. 2026

Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Link: meet.google.com/tdv-fvxg-ept

The panelists for this edition are exclusively renowned poets whose works made the longlist or shortlist for this year’s NLNG Prize for Literature.

Tares Oburumu is a poet, essayist and playwright from the Warri axis and a University of Benin alumnus. He won the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and the GAP Poetry Prize, and is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. The author of seven poetry chapbooks, he is also a dedicated poetry mentor. His work has appeared widely in international literary journals, including _Poetry Foundation, Agbowo, Juked_, and &Loch Raven Review_. His _Flora’s Love Colony_ is on the shortlist of this year's edition of the NLNG Prize for Literature.

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Theresa Lola is an award-winning poet, writer and artist. Her second collection, _Ceremony for the Nameless_, won the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, while a poem from her debut, _In Search of Equilibrium_, was selected for the UK GCSE syllabus. She served as Young People’s Laureate for London, 2019 to 2020, and won the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize. She holds an MSt in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford and has exhibited and undertaken residencies at leading cultural institutions. Her poetry collection, _Ceremony for The Nameless_

was longlisted for this year's NLNG Prize for Literature.

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James Eze is an award-winning poet, journalist, cultural organiser and communications strategist. His debut collection, _Dispossessed_, won the 2020 ANA Poetry Prize and was longlisted for the 2022 NLNG Prize for Literature. In 2025, he transformed Things Fall Apart Day into a landmark seven-day festival, attracting about 10,000 visitors. He founded Udala Nation, has curated major literary events, and was honoured as “The People’s Poet” in 2026. His poetry collection, _Unbind Me Now_ is shortlisted for this year's edition of the NLNG Prize for Literature.

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Rasaq Malik Gbolahan is a poet, performer, translator, essayist and emerging Digital Humanities scholar. Founding Editor-in-Chief of _Agbowó_, he co-founded _Àtélẹwó_, the first digital journal dedicated to Yoruba-language literature. His poetry chapbooks include No _Home In This Land_ and _The Other Names of Grief_. His work has appeared in leading international journals. He was shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize and a finalist for the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. His poetry collection, _The Origin of Wounds_ was longlisted for this year's NLNG Prize for Literature.

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Ogaga Ifowodo is a lawyer, poet and scholar whose award-winning collections include _Homeland & Other Poems_, _Madiba_ and _The Oil Lamp_, which won ANA poetry prizes. His works have appeared internationally in leading journals and anthologies. He is author of _History, Trauma, and Healing in Postcolonial Narratives_ (Palgrave Macmillan), and recipient of the PEN USA Barbara Goldsmith Freedom-to-Write Award and the Poets of All Nations “Free Word” Award. He is also a Fellow of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His poetry collection, _Why Does God Need a Gun?_ is on the shortlist of the 2026 NLNG Prize for Literature.

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Saddiq Dzukogi is a poet and Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of _Your Crib, My Qibla_, winner of the 2021 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and the 2022 Julie Suk Award, and shortlisted for the 2022 NLNG Prize for Literature. His latest collection, Bakandamiya, was also longlisted for the prize this year. His poetry has appeared in leading international journals, and he has received fellowships from PEN America and other institutions.

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Abdur Rahman Adebayo Aderinoye, the moderator, is a poet and a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). He served twice as Chairman of the ANA Kwara Chapter, 2017 to 2019; 2019 to 2021, and as National Assistant General Secretary, 2023 to 2025. A distinguished fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, he recently completed a three-year tenure as ICMC Abuja Branch Chairman, 2023 to 2026. He is a communication expert with a wealth of experience in moderating literary events.