Nnadi Samuel

Nnadi Samuel
Nnadi Samuel is sitting under a Pavilion building in Charlottesville
Born4 May
Ijesha, Lagos
EducationUniversity of Benin (BA), 2019
OccupationPoet. Instructor. Editor
Writing career
Notable worksNature Knows a Little About Slave Trade (Sundress Publication, 2023) Biblical Invasion (Bywords publication, 2024)
Notable awardsThe 2022 Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award,

The 2023 John Newlove Poetry Award,

The 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Award (San Francisco State University (SFSU) and

The 2025 Capilano Review Fall Award

Nnadi Samuel is a Nigerian poet. He is the author of the chapbooks Reopening of Wounds (2020[1]), Nature Knows a Little About Slave Trade (2023)[2], which won the Editor's choice Award for the 2022 Chapbook Contest selected for publication by Sundress Publications.[3], and Biblical Invasion, B.C (Bywords Publcation, 2024)[4]. His honors includes the 2022 Betsy Colquitt Award[5], the 2023 John Newlove Poetry Award[6], the 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award(San Franscisco State University(SFSU).[7][8][9] and the 2025 Capilano Review Fall Award[10] amongst others. His works have appeared in several reputable journals and magazine.

Early life and education

Nnadi Samuel grew up in Ikotun, Lagos. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Literature from the University of Benin in 2019.[11]

Writing career

Nnadi started writing in 2018, but began submitting to magazines and journal in early 2020. The same year, his first chapbook, Reopening of Wounds, was published in Nigeria by Words, Rhyme & Rhythm.[12] He is the author of Nature knows a little about Slave Trade selected by Tate N. Oquendo (Sundress Publication, 2023)[13]. His third micro-chapbook Biblical Invasion, BC published Bywords Publication (Ottawa CA, 2024).

Nnadi's works have been published in many reputable platforms including Common Wealth Writers, Scottish Poetry Library, Fourteen Hills, Suburban Review[14], Seventh Wave Magazine, The Spectacle Magazine, ROOM Magazine, Porter House Review, The Capilano Review, Ex-Puritan, River Heron Review, Westerly, Arc Poetry Magazine, Prism, Southword Journal, Yolk Literary Journal, FIYAH Literary Magazine, Fantasy Magazine[15], Fairy Tale Review, New Orleans Review, Poetry Ireland Review, North American Review, Bombay Lit Magazine, 128 LIT, Shade Literary Arts, Descant, North Dakota Quarterly, Quarterly West, Gutter Magazine, Rough Cut Press[16], Lolwe[17], Uncanny Magazine[18], Agbówo,[19] Alphabet Box[20] among others.

Recognition and awards

Nnadi has received numerous awards and honors recognizing his contributions to poetry and African literature:

  • Winner, The 2025 Capilano Review Fall Contest Award[21]
  • Winner, The 2025 F(r)iction Poetry Contest Fall[22]
  • Winner, The 2023 Virginia Tech Center for Refugee, Migrants and Displacement Studies Annual Award[23]
  • Winner, The 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award.[24]
  • Winner, The 2023 John Newlove Poetry Award[25]
  • Winner, The 2023 Vera Manuel Award for Poetry[26]
  • Winner, The 2022 Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award[27].
  • Winner, The 2022 Angela C. Mankiewicz Poetry Contest[28].
  • Winner, The 2022 River Heron Editors' Prize with his poem "Who Killed Davey Moore?"[29],
  • Winner, The 2021 Taiwanese American Falun Gong Poetry Prize for his manuscript titled "Subject Lessons".[30]
  • Winner, The 2021 Lakefly Poetry Contest[31]
  • Winner, The 2021 Penrose Poetry Prize[32]
  • Winner, The 2021 Miracle Monocle Award for Ambitious Student Writers[33]
  • Winner, The 2020 Open Drawer (August) Contest[34]
  • Second prize Winner for the 2022 The Bird in Your Hands Contest[35],
  • Second prize Winner for the 2022 MONO. Poetry Prize
  • Bronze Prize winner for the 2022 Creative Future Writer's Award[36].
  • Honorable mention for the 2022 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest.[37]
  • Nnadi is a Eight(8x) Pushcart Nominee and Four (4x) times Best of the Net Nominee[38]

In 2022, Samuel was a bronze poetry winner of the Creative Future Writers' Award.[39] He also received an honourable mention in the 2022 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest for "Nebulous Strike in Minnesota".[40]

In 2023, Nnadi was announced as the winner of 2023 John Newlove Poetry Award and the 2022 Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award. His poem "A Boneyard of Flesh//Post-War Trauma" was judged winner of the 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award.[24][25] He won the 2023 Virginia Tech Center for Refugee, Migrants and Displacement Studies Annual Award.[26] His poem "At Washington D.C, A Black Boy Drank Borders" won the 2025 Capilano Review Fall Contest. His poem "Rewriting Athena" also won the F(r)iction Poetry Contest Fall 2025[41].

Reviewing Nature Knows A Little About Slave Trade in The Republic, the Nigerian critic Ancci recognises Nnadi's poetic distinction[42]

Reference

  1. ↑ "REOPENING OF WOUNDS BY NNADI SAMUEL". WORDS, RHYME & RHYTHM. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Nnadi, Samuel (2023). Nature Knows a Little About Slave Trade. United States: Sundress Publication. ISBN 978-1-951979-56-0.
  3. ↑ "2022 Chapbook Contest Winner Announced". The Sundress Blog. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Nnadi, Samuel (2024). Biblical Invasion, B.C. Canada, Ottawa: Bywords.ca. ISBN 978-1-989299-06-7.
  5. ↑ "AWARDS 2022 Contest Winners Guest Judge, Bryn Chancellor". Descant. TCU Press. 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ↑ "John Newlove Poetry Award". Bywords. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "An Interview with the 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award Winner, Nnadi Samuel". Fourteen Hills. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "A Boneyard of Flesh// Post-War Trauma by Nnadi Samuel". Fourteen Hills Press. 21 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "#29-SDA Winner / A Boneyard of Flesh / Post-War Trauma by Nnadi Samuel". Fourteen Hills. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "Announcing the Winner of the 2025 Fall Writing Contest". The Capilano Review. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "Samuel Nnadi". Department of English. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "Reopening of Wounds by Nnadi Samuel". Words Rhymes & Rhythm. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Interview with Nnadi Samuel, Author of Nature Knows a Little About Slave Trade". The Sundress blog. 18 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Stevens, Sam (1 February 2021). "Q&A with Nnadi Samuel • The Suburban Review". The Suburban Review. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Forest Maths". Fantasy Magazine. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Lezra, Billy (1 April 2021). "In Conversation with Nnadi Samuel". Rough Cut Press. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  17. ↑ Lolwe; Troy (22 June 2022). "Crash Course in a Slaughterhouse - Nnadi Samuel". Lolwe. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "Self Portrait As a Printing Press". Uncanny Magazine. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "My Father's Paranoid from various Angles | Nnadi Samuel". Agbowó. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  20. ↑ FitzGerald, Stephen. "Nnadi Samuel Interview". Alphabet Box. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "Announcing the Winner of the 2025 Fall Writing Contest". The Capilano Review. 2 March 2026.
  22. ↑ "Contest Winners". Fr(i)ction Log. 24 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ART AND HUMAN SCIENCE". Virginia Tech.
  24. ↑ "An Interview with the 2023 Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award Winner, Nnadi Samuel". Fourteen Hills Press. 21 August 2023.
  25. ↑ "John Newlove Poetry Award". Bywords.ca. 2024.
  26. ↑ "Winners – Surrey Muse Art & Literature Awards 2023". surreymuseawards.wordpress.com. 10 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "2022 Contest Winners". Descant. 7 June 2022.
  28. ↑ "Winners 2022 Angela Mankiewicz Poetry Contest". Lummox Production. 23 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Nnadi Samuel, Winner". River Heron Review. 2 January 2023.
  30. ↑ "Nnadi Samuel: "Subject Lessons" (Poems)". TaiwaneseAmerican.org. 25 November 2021.
  31. ↑ "2021 Writing Contest Winners" (PDF). Lakefly Writing Conference. 5 May 2021.
  32. ↑ "Penrose Poetry Prize". Death Rattle. 5 November 2020.
  33. ↑ "Issue 16 Fall 2021". Miracle Monocle. University of Louisville. 19 April 2021.
  34. ↑ "Past Winners". Open Drawer Contest. Britta Badour. 28 August 2020.
  35. ↑ "2022 / VOLUME 28". Thin Air Magazine. 2022.
  36. ↑ "2022 Winners". Creative Future. 13 September 2022.
  37. ↑ "2022 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest Winners and Finalists". Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize. 2022.
  38. ↑ "2022 Best of the Net Nominations". Trampset. 9 October 2022.
  39. ↑ "2022 Winners". Creative Future. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  40. ↑ "2022 Winners". Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  41. ↑ "Rewriting Athena Words By Nnadi Samuel". F(r)iction. 24 July 2026.
  42. ↑ Ancci (25 August 2024). "Book Review: Nature Knows A Little About Slave Trade by Nnadi Samuel". The Republic. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
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