Gabriel Awuah Mainoo
Gabriel Awuah Mainoo, a talented Ghanaian poet and creative practitioner, has been named winner of the 2025-2026 Diann Blakely Emerging Poet Prize, awarded by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Georgia.
His winning poem, “A Pathogenesis of the First Slave Ship,” was selected by acclaimed poet and scholar Karla Kelsey, who praised the work for its depth and artistic ambition.
In her official citation, Kelsey wrote: “This poem bravely and hauntingly explores the condition of history that is now impossible to be known. The poem reveals that this impossibility does not mean that the event and its legacy are erased, but rather that some legacies require the sense-based imagery of poetry and poetry’s musicality to be registered and to circulate. Both deeply woven and disjunctive, this work responds to a necessity of a higher order.”
Mainoo’s achievement marks a significant milestone in his career, cementing his position as one of the leading emerging poetic voices from Ghana on the global stage. He has received fellowships from institutions including Hong Kong Baptist University, Aarhus Literature Center in Denmark, and the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Some of Mainoo’s notable works include “Lyrical Textiles”, “We Are Moulting Birds”, and “Hvor End Havet Skyller Dig Op”. He has also been recognised with awards such as the Africa Haiku Prize, the Singapore Poetry Prize, and the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize.