USM School of Humanities Faculty Member Earns National Recognition for Poetry
Tue, 09/24/2024 - 04:40pm | By: Dr. David Tisdale
A member of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Humanities faculty has received one of the nation’s top honors for poetry.
Dr. Michael Aderibigbe, assistant professor in the English program and a member of its prestigious Center for Writers faculty, has been named one of only five winners of the National Poetry Series Competition for 2024 for his collection of poems titled 82nd Division.
The National Poetry Series is a literary awards program which sponsors the publication of five books of poetry each year from approximately 1,400 submissions and is considered one of the most prestigious recognitions of work in the field. The manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, selected by poets of national stature and published by a distinguished group of trade, university, and small presses.
Past winners of the National Poetry Series include Billy Collins, Stephen Dunn, Naomi Shihab Nye, Kevin Young, Terrance Hayes, Marie Howe, and Sterling A. Brown, among many other significant poets who have defined contemporary American poetry.
"Dr. Aderibigbe is a gifted poet who had a national reputation before arriving at USM,” said Dr. Matthew Casey, director of the School of Humanities. “His poems have appeared in some of the top publications in the country, and the Southern Miss community is lucky to have him. Imagine being a student and taking an English class from someone who won the National Poetry Series. In many ways, this award is the culmination of a long list of accolades that Dr. Aderibigbe has received. We are all excited about his forthcoming book and what the future holds."
“This is an extremely high honor and one of the highest-ranking poetry prizes in the country,” said Dr. Olivia Clare Freidman, director of the Center for Writers. “We’re so proud that Dr. Aderibigbe is receiving this recognition.”
For Dr. Aderibigbe, it’s gratifying to win an award of national significance and see his work held in the highest regard possible in the discipline. “More than that,” he continued, “I get to have my book published by a distinguished press. It is a reminder to me personally that I'm doing something right.”
82nd Division is named for the forcibly conscripted all-black regiment from West Africa that fought for the British during the Second World War and explores the legacy of colonialism in Dr. Aderibigbe’s native Nigeria. His main goal with the collection of poems is to introduce readers to all facets of life in postcolonial Nigeria, to see 82nd Division as an attempt to explore to its fullest the humanity of the people the book is about.
“When I began writing 82nd Division, I was determined to focus on themes that were more public than private. In other words, I wanted to focus less on poems about events that only I or other members of my family knew about,” Dr. Aderibigbe explained. “However, I still wanted to write poems about things close to my heart. That's how the first poems in 82nd Division—three multi-page poems about colonialism—were born. I don't want readers to think it's just a book about colonialism after they finish reading it,” he continued. “Instead, I hope they see it as a book about a people whose lives were altered forever by colonialism—because the book is not about colonialism. It's an attempt to render, with honesty, life in postcolonial Nigeria. However, as we all know, it is impossible to write about a post colony without addressing how it became one.”
Dr. Aderibigbe joined the USM faculty in 2022 and is recipient of the University’s 2024 Junior Faculty Award for Creative Activity; the Mississippi Arts Commission bestowed him its 2022-23 Individual Artist Fellowship. His other publications include a book of poems titled How the End First Showed (University of Wisconsin Press), which earned him the prestigious Brittingham Prize in Poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. His poems have also appeared in such major publications as The Atlantic and The Nation.
Dr. Aderibigbe was director of USM's Visiting Writers Series from 2022-24. In the role, he invited and helped host several writers of international and national renown. Since August 2022, he has served on the graduate professionalization panel within the School of Humanities, for which he now serves as coordinator, as it works to prepare graduate students in the School of Humanities for the job market. Since January 2022, Dr. Aderibigbe has served as an affiliate faculty member in the USM Center for Black Studies; he also volunteers for several campus and community services-related events.
Dr. Aderibigbe areas of expertise include poetry writing; hybrid literature; creative nonfiction; and Black Studies. He is working on two more projects, including a verse novel involving migration and love and a memoir in essays that deal with abuse.
“We’re extremely proud of this accomplishment and recognition for Dr. Aderibigbe,” said Dr. Chris Winstead, dean of the USM College of Arts and Sciences. “As the newest member of our Creative Writing faculty, he is clearly continuing the tradition of excellence of our English program in this area. We look forward to his ongoing impact as a poet and impact on our English students.”
Click here for information about the USM School of Humanities, its English program and the Center for Writers.