Nii Ayikwei Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes (Head Judge) is a producer, editor and writer who has won acclaim as a children’s author, poet, broadcaster and novelist. Winner of multiple international awards including Ghana’s ACRAG award, he is the Senior Editor at flipped eye publishing, a trustee of the Caine Prize and serves on the editorial board of World Literature Today. Nii Ayikwei has served as a judge for several literature prizes including the Commonwealth Prize, the NSK Neustadt Prize and the Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize. He is a 2022/23 Hutchins Family Fellow with the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University [Image: Rosa Ablah]

Afua Ansong (Head Judge)

Afua Ansong (Head Judge) is a poet and a postdoctoral scholar and artist at Mt. Holyoke College. She is the Founder of The Adinkra Prize (see below for more).

Emma Ofosua

Emma Ofosua (Judge: Spoken Poetry) is a Ghanaian-born and raised poet. She has written over 50 poems and freestyled numerous spoken-word poetry with “To Every Woman” and “When a boy calls you beautiful” as her flagship pieces. “I wish you courage in the night season” is her debut book that pores over the pain and confusion caused by identity crises and insecurities in a relatable, practical way. The compilation captures the very essence of our human existence.

Henneh Kwaku Kyereh

Henneh Kwaku Kyereh (Judge: Written Poetry) is a poet from Gonasua in the Bono Region of Ghana. He’s the author of Revolution of the Scavengers, selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the APBF New Generation African Poets Chapbook Series. His poems/essays/hybrids have appeared/forthcoming in World Literature Today, Lolwe, Agbowó, Tupelo Quarterly, Tampered Press, Poetry Society of America, Praxis Magazine, IceFloe Press, Random Photo Journal, Lunaris Review, CGWS, New South Journal, Lolwe, Samira Bawumia Literary Prize Winners Anthology & Olongo Africa. Find him on Instagram/Twitter via @kwaku_kyereh.