Shortlist announced for the James Berry Poetry Prize 2024

Lillian Akampurira Aujo is a writer from Uganda. Her writing has been published by HarperVia, New Internationalist, Prairie Schooner, Transition Magazine, among others. She is a graduate of the MA Creative Writing (Poetry) programme at the University of East Anglia, where she was a Global Voices Scholar. 

 
Clementine Ewokolo Burnley was born in Cameroon and now lives and works between the UK and Germany. She has an MSc in Applied Linguistics from Manchester University. Her work has been published in Ink Sweat and Tears, Magma, and The Poetry Review. Clementine’s first pamphlet, Radical Pairings, was published by Ignition Press in 2023. 
 
Nadine El-Enany is a writer and poet. Her poetry has appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Magma, Propel Magazine, 14 Magazine, fourteen poems, Gutter Magazine, Black Iris and Poetry Wales. She was shortlisted for the 2023 Poetry London Pamphlet Prize and longlisted for the 2023 Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition and the 2022 Fish Poetry Prize. 
 
Roshni Gallagher is a poet from Leeds living in Edinburgh. Her debut pamphlet Bird Cherry was published in 2023 by Verve Poetry Press. In 2022 she won an Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. She's currently studying for an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry at the University of St Andrews. 
 
Amina Jama is a Somali writer, producer and curator from East London. Her work explores sonic resonances of archival materials, displacement, migration and community engagement. Her pamphlet, A Warning to the House that Holds Me, published by flipped eye press, received a 2020 Eric Gregory Award. 
 
Christy Ku is a poet, actor and workshop facilitator. She’s worked with organisations including the BBC, Sky Arts, Science Museum, and the Barbican on projects such as poetry films, spoken word tracks and theatre shows. She founded BESEA Poets, a platform for British-based East and South-East Asian poets. 
 
Ilisha Thiru Purcell is an award-winning Sri Lankan-Scottish poet from Newcastle upon Tyne. She was part of the inaugural Poets of Colour Incubator Programme and was a Young Creative Associate with New Writing North. Her work has appeared in publications such as Bi+ Lines Anthology, Butcher’s Dog, and Third Space Anthology. 
 
Wendelin Law writes about historical trauma, the oppression of women, and family stories. Her goal is to publish symbolic poetry books that act as reminders of humanitarian crises and social injustice. She is the co-winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2024. 
 
Fae Wolfe lives in Manchester. She is pursuing a doctorate in counselling psychology and is interested in how storytelling emerges from the body. Her poems have appeared with The London Magazine, Aurora Prize for writing, Button Poetry, The Bitchin Kitsch, and Raising Mothers: Celebrating Black, Indigenous & Brown parenthood.

James Berry Poetry Prize Online Event

Online event hosted by Bloodaxe Books and Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts 

Readings by the six poets shortlisted for the James Berry Poetry Prize 2024, along with the three commended poets. 

You can watch the 2024 James Berry Poetry Prize event live or later on the Bloodaxe Books YouTube channel, or via this link: https://youtube.com/live/HhuB8YR8b_4. Register for this free online reading via TicketTailor before noon on 19 November if you would like to receive reminder emails about the event: https://buytickets.at/bloodaxebooks/1403223. 

The three equal winners of the James Berry Poetry Prize 2024 will be announced during this online event, which will be hosted by judges Theresa Muñoz and Imtiaz Dharker.