This is a list of notable

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

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Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

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Chris Abani Christopher Abani (born 27 December 1966) is a Nigerian-American and Los Angeles- based author. He says he is part of a new generation of Nigerian writers working to convey to an English-speaking audience the experience of those born and raise ...

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

Catherine Obianuju Acholonu Catherine Obianuju Acholonu (26 October 1951 – 18 March 2014) was a Nigerian author, researcher and political activist. She served as a Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Arts and Culture, and was a founder-member ...

Bayo Adebowale Bayo Adebowale (born 6 June 1944) is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, critic, librarian and founder of the African Heritage Library and Cultural Centre, Adeyipo, Ibadan Oyo State Early life and education He was born on 6 June 1944 in Ibada ...

Toyin Adewale-Gabriel Toyin Adewale-Gabriel (born 1969) is a Nigerian writer. She writes poetry and has worked as a literary critic for ''The Guardian'', ''Post Express'' and ''The Daily Times''. Adewale-Gabriel writes in both English and in German. Biography Born ...

Funso Aiyejina Funso Aiyejina (born 1949) is a Nigerian poet, short story writer, playwright and academic. He is the former Dean of Humanities and Education (until his retirement in 2014) and current Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies. His ...

* Tolu Ajayi * Tolu Akinyemi * Akilu Aliyu *

Abdulkareem Baba Aminu Abdulkareem Baba Aminu (born Kaduna, 7 July 1977) is a Nigerian journalist, cartoonist, comicbook artist and retailer, painter, writer, poet and culture critic. Baba Aminu is a commentator on culture. He was one of four judges for KORA Music Awards ...

Nana Asma’u Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana (c ...

(1793–1864) *

Nnorom Azuonye Nnorom Azuonye (born 12 July 1967, in Biafra) is a publisher, theater director, playwright, poet and advertising professional. He is also an accredited Methodist Local Preacher with the Methodist Church in Britain and serves as Principal Networker ...

* Sueddie Agema

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* Solomon Babalola *

Lindsay Barrett Carlton Lindsay Barrett (born 15 September 1941), also known as Eseoghene, is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist and photographer, whose work has interacted with the Caribbean Artists Movement in the UK, the Black ...

* Philip Begho

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John Pepper Clark John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo (6 April 1935 – 13 October 2020) was a Nigerian poet and playwright, who also published as J. P. Clark and John Pepper Clark. Life Born in Kiagbodo, Nigeria, to an Ijaw father and Urhobo mother, Clark received his ...

* Chijioke Amu-Nnadi

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* Delight Chilegide Olumati

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Michael Echeruo Michael Joseph Chukwudalu Echeruo (born March 14, 1937) is a Nigerian academic, professor and literary critic from Umunumo, Ehime-Mbano LGA, Imo State. He is the William Safire Professor of Modern Letters in the English Department at Syracuse Univ ...

Amatoritsero Ede Amatoritsero Ede is a Nigerian-Canadian poet. He had written under the name "Godwin Ede" but he stopped bearing his Christian first name as a way to protest the xenophobia and racism he noted in Germany, a "Christian" country, and to an extent, t ...

Edoheart Eseohe Arhebamen or Eseohe Arhebamen-Yamasaki, also known as Edoheart (born Obehioye Eseohe Ikhianose Oghomwenyenmwen Cleopatra Anne Arhebamen), is a poet, dancer, singer, musician, producer, performance artist and visual artist. Eseohe was born i ...

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Femi Fani-Kayode David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode (born 16 October 1960) is a Nigerian politician, essayist, poet and lawyer. He was a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was with the opposition's All Progressive Congress (A ...

Peter Fatomilola Chief Peter Fatomilola (born 16 January 1946) is a Nigerian dramatist, film actor, poet and prolific playwright. Early life Fatomilola was born on 16 January 1946 in the town of Ifisin-Ekiti in Ido-Osi Local Government area of Ekiti State, Nigeri ...

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* Alhaji Garba Gashuwa * Bakare Gbadamosi

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Helon Habila Helon Habila Ngalabak (born November 1967) is a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, including the Caine Prize in 2001. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was a C ...

Obo Aba Hisanjani Obo Aba Hisanjani (born 24 November 1949) is a Nigerian poet. He was born in the small village of Ajah, Lagos, Ajah, now a bustling marketplace. He has campaigned against the development and exploitation of the surrounding areas for purely commer ...

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Tade Ipadeola Tade Ipadeola (born September 1970 in Fiditi, Oyo State) is a Nigerian poet who writes in English and Yoruba. He is a practising lawyer. In 2013 his poetry collection ''The Sahara Testaments'' won the prestigious Nigeria Prize for Literature instit ...

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John Jea John Jea (1773 – after 1817) was an African-American writer, preacher, abolitionist and sailor, best known for his 1811 autobiography ''The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher.'' Jea was enslaved from a ...

* Onwuchekwa Jemie * Joseph Awujoola

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* Logan February

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Okey Ndibe Okechukwu "Okey" Ndibe (born 1960) is a novelist, political columnist, and essayist of Igbo ethnicity. Ndibe was born in Yola, Nigeria. He is the author of ''Arrows of Rain'' and ''Foreign Gods, Inc.'', two critically acclaimed novels published ...

Echezonachukwu Nduka Echezonachukwu Chinedu Nduka (born 19 July 1989) is a Nigerian poet, author, pianist, recording artist, and musicologist specializing in piano music by West African composers. His work has been featured on BBC, Radio Nacional Clasica de Argentin ...

* Uche Nduka

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* Godspower Oboido *

Odia Ofeimun Odia Ofeimun (born 16 March 1950)"Biography: Odia Ofeimun, Nigeria"
Badilisha Poetry X ...

* Dr. Tanure Ojaide *

Gabriel Okara Gabriel Imomotimi Okara (24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019) was a Nigerian poet and novelist who was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The first modernist poet of Anglophone Africa, he is best known for his early experimental ...

* Diego Odoh Okenyodo *

Christopher Okigbo Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932 – 1967) was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet an ...

Ben Okri Ben Okri (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-British poet and novelist.Ben Okri"
British Council, ...

* Olatubosun Oladapo * Sam Oritsetimeyin Omatseye *

Dennis Osadebay Dennis Chukude Osadebay (29 June 1911 — 26 December 1994) was a Nigerian politician, poet, journalist and former premier of the now defunct Mid-Western Region of Nigeria, which now comprises Edo and Delta State. He was one of the pion ...

* Okinba Launko a.k.a. Femi Osofisan *

Niyi Osundare Niyi Osundare is a leading African poet, dramatist, linguist, and literary critic. Born on March 12, 1947, in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria, his poetry is influenced by the oral poetry of his Yoruba culture, which he capaciously hybridizes with other poetic ...

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Remi Raji Aderemi Raji-Oyelade (born 1961) is a Nigerian poet, writing in English. He is popularly known by his pen name, Remi Raji. Career A Salzburg Fellow and visiting professor and writer to a number of institutions, among them Southern Illinois Univers ...

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Ken Saro-Wiwa Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogonilan ...

Mabel Segun Mabel Segun, NNOM (born 1930) is a Nigerian poet, playwright and writer of short stories and children's books. She has also been a teacher, broadcaster, and a sports woman. Biography Born in Ondo City, Nigeria, she had her secondary school ed ...

Lola Shoneyin Lola Shoneyin (born Titilola Atinuke Alexandrah Shoneyin; 26 February 1974 in Ibadan, Nigeria) is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, ''The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives'', in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a r ...

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

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* Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike *

Rems Umeasiegbu Rems Nnanyelugo Umeasiegbu (born 1 October 1943), is Nigerian professor, scholar, novelist, poet and folklorist from south-eastern Nigeria. . He was also a Principal Lecturer at the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu (1978-1982), and Hea ...

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Mamman Jiya Vatsa Mamman Jiya Vatsa (3 December 1940 – 5 March 1986) was a Nigerian general and poet who served as Minister of the Federal Capital Abuja, and was a member of the Supreme Military Council On 5 March 1986, he was executed by the military re ...

* Jumoke Verissimo {{Lists of poets

Poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...