Gently Rippling Waves - The Prize

For the best work of poetry on the theme of ‘Disappearing Cultures’.

Read about the theme here.

Prizes

Our best entrant will receive $150. A selection of our favourite entries will be featured on our platforms.

Non-Prize

We encourage 100-word story applications on the same theme as well! Our best pick and a selection will be featured on our platforms.

Entry Rules and Requirements

The competition is open to individuals from Commonwealth countries.

All submissions must be written in English or transcribed.

Entries should be standalone pieces and cannot be excerpted from longer works.

Entries must be previously unpublished, and must not have been awarded or placed in any other competition.

Entrants must be 18 years old at the time of submission, and not more than 35 years old.

Each participant is limited to one entry per category.

Entries must be poems of up to 45 lines, or stories not exceeding 100 words.

On Disappearing Cultures - 2024

Winners and Finalists

Winner

Sherdil Awais Rashid

Read the winning poem here


Shortlist – Top 6

Abu Ibrahim – We need new mouths to Carry our tongue
Jesimiel Williams – Unanswered Prayers
Goh Yong Ming Calvin – Singing in Tongues
Abu Bakr Sadiq – Do not come talking to me about Heirlooms
Okoli Stephen Nonso – Echoes of a dying moon

Yakima Cuffy-Bazil – Boudin

Read the shortlisted poems here


Longlist – Top 20

Abu Ibrahim – We need new mouths to Carry our tongue
Jesimiel Williams – Unanswered Prayers
Goh Yong Ming Calvin – Singing in Tongues
Abu Bakr Sadiq – Do not come talking to me about Heirlooms
Abdulrazaq Salihu – Chalk lines with historic loop
H.B. Asari – Sonnet for my moulded tongue
Okoli Stephen Nonso – Echoes of a dying moon
Sue Muraya – The elegy of my mother’s tongue
Anewa Martha – To preserve a culture
Madhuri Lalwani – Of quotidian brilliance
Muheez Olawale – Does the moon still hang up there?
Sherdil Awais Rashid – Just ’cause you American/Doesn’t mean you Amerishould
Ifésinàchi Nwàdiké – C is for Cross River
Alicia Lebruin – The raging winds of change
Amanda Nechesa – The Grandmothers
Yeayi Kobina – If there be tomorrow
Aanuoluwapo Adesina – Send down your rains
Nur Nazatul Syuhadah Binti Jamalludin – Hourglass
Yakima Cuffy-Bazil – Boudin
Onyekachi Iloh – Lab Work