[GREENVILLE, NC] Asma Abike’s poem “Facts” has been chosen by Final Judge El’Ja Bowens as this year’s winner of the Jaki Shelton Green Performance Poetry Prize contest, co-sponsored by the North Carolina Literary Review and the North Carolina Poetry Society. Bowens praised “the tone, the delivery, the presentation all wrapped up into an awesome poem dealing with a lot of current events not just happening here in America, but in the world as a whole.”
Abike is a poet and painter from Houston, TX, now based in Charlotte, NC. A first-generation Nigerian-American Muslim, her work explores the rich intersections and dualities of her identity, weaving together themes of heritage, faith, and belonging. Through both visual and literary art, she creates spaces for complex stories to breathe and be heard. Her dedication to her craft has earned her numerous accolades, including being named the inaugural Blackberry Peach National Poetry Champion and a Watering Hole Fellow.
Second place went to established Charlotte poet Dionne D. Hunter for her poem “History Revealed.” Bowens was impressed by “the culmination of black history and using art and storytelling to connect to why these things need to stay relevant and revealed in a world trying to not acknowledge its contribution.” Hunter is a talented author, poet, and spoken word artist, and a veteran of the US Navy. Her military service, experiences as a mother and grandmother, and journey as a Black woman in America deeply enrich her artistic voice. Her poetry has been featured in several anthologies, while her spoken word performances and film series have been screened domestically and internationally. She was named the 2024 AMG Heritage Awards Spoken Word Artist of the Year.
Third place was awarded to JeanMarie Olivieri from Mebane, NC. “I like how the poem seems to be comedic, but the poem addresses a lot of issues dealing with financial stability, disability, and just trying to make it,” Bowens remarked. Olivieri is a retired business writer who now mostly writes poetry, saying she doesn’t have the attention span to write a novel. Her work has been published in Pinesong, other anthologies, and several online journals.
Honorable Mention went to Marcial “CL” Harper of Clayton for “Shadow Work.” Bowens calls it “a poem of a man and his vulnerability” and says he “loved the passion and the wordplay.” Harper, who performs under the name “CL Tha Artist” is a multifaceted poet, rapper, health coach, and business consultant. He took third place in the 2024 Green contest and has performed poetry at various events across the Southeastern US and Virgin Islands.
All of these performances will be released through the NCLR Online Fall 2025 issue, and each recipient receives a cash prize and will be invited to perform their poems at an upcoming NCPS event. The Green Performance Poetry Prize contest started in 2022 as a collaboration between NCLR and NCPS, in honor of North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, a preeminent North Carolina poet known for her moving performances, and to advance the artform of performance poetry throughout the state. 2025 Final Judge El’Ja Bowens of Fayetteville is a poet, teaching artist, and performer, who founded the Southeast Regional NC Poetry Slam and has won numerous awards for Slam Poetry throughout the country.
The NCPS was founded in 1932 as an all-volunteer organization for poets and friends of poetry, now having over 560 members from North Carolina and around the globe. The NCPS hosts four meetings at Weymouth each year and various offerings around the state and online. They also have three other competitions for NC poets as well as a newsletter and poetry journal.
Produced since 1992 at East Carolina University and published by the University of North Carolina Press, the mission of NCLR is to preserve and promote North Carolina’s rich literary culture. NCLR introduces new and emerging writers; reintroduces forgotten authors; showcases work in literary criticism, interviews, book reviews, fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry; and reports on literary news stories. We complement the writing with the work of North Carolina artists and photographers.
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