We are delighted to present the category longlists for the 2025 Isele Prizes.

A total of thirty works, ten per category, were chosen by our in-house judges. These lists highlight the best of the stories, essays, and poems published in Isele Magazine between February 1, 2024, and February 28, 2025. Our judges considered over 250 works, and they agreed that their brilliance and emotional resonance capture our mission: to provide a platform for writers who hold a mirror to our society.

Shortlists of five to six stories, essays, and poems per category will be announced on May 16, 2025. The winners will be revealed on June 20, 2025.

The winners will receive $150 each. Also, the shortlisted works will be featured in the print issue of Best of Isele, slated for publication in spring 2026.

On that note, here are the longlists according to their categories and in no particular order:

The Isele Short Story Prize

“Koala, Koala, Koala” by Chantelle Chiwetalu

“Matrimony” by Adams Adeosun

“Gone Case” by Duboree Das

“Sports Ball” by Nathaniel Krenkel

“Flowers in Bloom” by Lucia Edafioka

“The Place of the Rainbow” by Rutendo Chidzodzo

“Not Like Other Boys” by Josiah Ikpe

“The Beginning of Bad Things” by Isaac Chika

“Mothers and Daughters” by Annie Russo

“In Her Head” by Sarah Durham 

The Isele Nonfiction Prize

“Notes of a Nonresident Alien” by Tolu Daniel

“Basturma Chronicles” by Maria Baha

“Some Seasons I Have Known” by Kemi Falodun

“A Study in Red” by Kharys Ateh Laue 

“On Accent and Confidence” by Idowu Odeyemi 

“When The Knife Cuts” by Paul Chuks

“Womb and Period Hu(r)ts” by Muti’ah Badruddeen

“How to Murder a Voice” by Orji Victor Ebubechukwu

“Totally Atwood” by Anthony J. Mohr

“everything I know about genocide, part three” by Erica Rivera

Isele Poetry Prize

“Five Poems” by Jennifer E Hudgens

“Three Poems” by Fatima Abdullahi

“Two Poems” by Shauna AV Gunnell

“Three Poems” by Daniel Seifert

“Two Poems” by Connor Watkins-Xu

“Three Poems” by Jonathan Langdon

“Kpo Fire” by Marvellous Igwe

“Three Poems” by D Larissa Peters

“Three Poems” by Elly Katz

“Two Poems” by Purbasha Roy

Important Dates

  • Longlists Announcement: April 16, 2025
  • Shortlists Announcement: May 16, 2025
  • Winners Announcement: June 20, 2025

See here for more about Isele Magazine.

*one of the insert images, (the orange sky), by Neelakshi Singh on Unsplash; others by Canva