Damilola Michael Aderibigbe (born 1989) is a Nigerian poet based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is an assistant professor of creative writing in the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is the author of the debut collection of poems, ''How the End First Showed'', which won the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, among other honors.

Early life and education

Born in Lagos, Aderibigbe earned his bachelor's degree in history at the University of Lagos in 2014, after which he was admitted to the MFA program in creative writing at Boston University, where he received a Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship. Upon completing his masters studies in 2017, he proceeded to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

where he earned his doctorate degree in 2022, majoring in English and Creative Writing, with a minor in Global Black Literature.

Career

Aderibigbe is the author of the debut poetry collection, ''How the End First Showed'', which won the 2018 Brittingham Prize in Poetry, a

Florida Book Award The Florida Book Awards are a set of annual statewide literary awards that recognize Floridian authors and books about Florida published in the previous year. Established in 2006, the awards are administered by the Florida State University Librarie ...

, and was a finalist for Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poets and the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize. The book also received praise and coverage from numerous publications, including '' The Washington Post'', '' The Boston Globe'', '' The New York Journal of Books,'' ''

The Bay State Banner The ''Bay State Banner'' is an independent newspaper primarily geared toward the readership interests of the African-American community in Boston, Massachusetts. The ''Bay State Banner'' was founded in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller who remains the ch ...

'', '' Bostonia Magazine'', ''

Poetry Daily Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

'', '' The Hartford Courant'', '' Africa in Words'', '' The Stockholm Review of Literature'', '' The Journal of Gender Studies ''among others.'' ''He is also the author of a poetry

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

, ''In Praise of Our Absent Father,'' selected for the New Generation African Poets Series of the African Poetry Book Fund. His first full-length manuscript, ''My Mothers' Songs and Other Similar Songs I Learnt,'' received a special mention in the 2015 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. Aderibigbe's poems have appeared in the '' African American Review'', ''

Alaska Quarterly Review ''The Alaska Quarterly Review'' is a biannual literary journal founded in 1980 by Ronald Spatz and James Liszka at the University of Alaska Anchorage and continued unaffiliated in 2020.July 1, 2020 University of Alaska Anchorage ended its financia ...

'', ''

New England Review The ''New England Review'' is an American quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College. It was established in 1978 by Sydney Lea Sydney Lea (born December 22, 1942) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, editor, and professor ...

,'' '' The Hudson Review'', '' The Nation'', ''

Ninth Letter ''Ninth Letter'' is a literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration between thSchool of Art + Designand the Creative Writing Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaig ...

'', '' Poetry Review'', ''

Sierra Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

'','' Prairie Schooner'', '' Shenandoah'', and elsewhere, and has been featured on Verse Daily. Aderibigbe has won several fellowships, residencies and honours from the

James Merrill House The James Merrill House is a 19th-century house at 107 Water Street in Stonington Borough in southeastern Connecticut, formerly owned by poet James Merrill. Upon his death in 1995, the house was kept by the village as a home for writers and scho ...

, Banff Center for the Arts, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Ucross Foundation, Sewanee Writers’ Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellowship) at the University of the South, OMI International Arts Center, the Jentel Foundation, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aderibigbe, D.M. Nigerian poets Nigerian writers University of Lagos alumni Boston University alumni Florida State University alumni University of Southern Mississippi faculty Living people 1989 births