The winner of the slm 2018 poetry contest is...

Emokpaire Faith was born on December 10th, 1998 in Okigwe Main town, Imo state. She is currently studying biochemistry in Federal University, Otueke, Bayelsa state. Her love for words draws inspiration from the likes of great poets and authors like Justin Blanley, Chinyere .M. Ugokwe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Between June and August 2018, there was a call for submission for the Sprinng Literary Movement annual poetry contest. The prompt of the contest was to: "write a simple poem on any theme of choice, between 5-10 lines."

Out of the 238 submissions that we received for this contest, we have found Emokpaire Faith worthy to be the winner of the SLM 2018 Poetry Contest. She will be receiving the N25,000 cash prize plus N10,000 gift-card to shop for books at Roving Heights.

See the winning poem below:

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Edisemi you sat in the womb 
Of a black woman
Drank milk from the pipes of the soil 
Laughed at the harshness of the sun 
Ordained your lips with clay from the waterside 
You are as black as they come 
It doesn't matter how far you run 
Or the time you take to roll your tongue 
Or the weaves you buy to marry your skull 
Our people say no matter how far a lady goes 
How she moves and danced with snow her bones still belongs to her root.