Emmanuel Eruemulor

I will write
till I have no words
left in me.

Poet • Spoken Word Artist • Author

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Portrait of Emmanuel Eruemulor wearing an olive suit and black roll-neck

About the artist

Between the page
and the stage.

Emmanuel Eruemulor is a Nigerian-born, UK-based poet and spoken-word artist whose work explores identity, belonging, migration and the emotional landscapes of contemporary life.

His writing has appeared in The Kalahari Review, African Writer, The Guardian and across Portsmouth city buses. He is the author of Unwanted, a poetry collection moving through violence, migration and the quiet ache of belonging fully to neither home.

On stage, Emmanuel brings the intimacy of the page into a shared room—using voice, silence and rhythm to create moments that remain after the applause.

Invite Emmanuel to perform

“Before you ask my name,
you ask where I’m from.”

— Tribe and Tongue

Selected writing

Words in the world.

Poems and reflections published across literary journals, newspapers and public spaces.

01 A Lesson on Processing Emotions The Kalahari Review 02 Circles of Inheritance: A Boomerang Through Time The Guardian 03 Infantant African Writer 04 Poetry on the Move Portsmouth City Buses

From Unwanted

Tribe and Tongue

Before you ask my name,
you ask where I'm from —
not the city, the tribe.
As if my ancestry is a form
you need before you decide
how much of me deserves your respect.

We are over two hundred and fifty tongues
in one mouth of a country,
and somehow we have only learned
to use that mouth for biting.

Continue reading

I have watched friendships end
over a surname.
I have watched a man vote against his own interest
because the candidate who shared them
did not share his blood.

They taught us in school
that unity is our strength,
right under a map
carved by people who never once
asked what we wanted to call ourselves.

Live poetry

Some poems insist
on being heard.

Performance gives written language a body, a breath and a room to live in.

Featured live performance Emmanuel Eruemulor
Emmanuel Eruemulor performing poetry live on stage
Emmanuel Eruemulor performing live
Front cover of Unwanted, a poetry collection by Emmanuel Eruemulor

The debut collection

[un]
wanted

A poetry collection

Unwanted is a collection in three parts, moving from the religious and political violence of Nigeria, through migration, to the quiet ache of belonging fully to neither home.

Woven through every section is the life of Vincent van Gogh—a man also cast out by his own community, whose paintings found their audience only after he was gone. Together, these poems ask what it costs to keep making something honest in places that have not yet decided to want you.

“I did not survive Lekki’s darkness… just to disappear quietly into someone else’s idea of who I’m allowed to be.”
Buy paperback on Amazon Buy ebook on Selar

A new literary initiative

Eruemulor & George
Poetry Prize

Honouring the courage to begin.

The Eruemulor & George Poetry Prize rewards emerging poets and encourages them to keep writing, developing their craft and growing in the arts.

The competition launches in Nigeria this year, with a UK edition planned for the future. It exists to recognise promising voices, offer meaningful encouragement and remind new writers that their words matter.

Winner₦100,000
Second place₦50,000
Third place₦25,000
Nigeria edition Launching this year
United Kingdom edition Coming soon
Register interest in the prize

Bookings & enquiries

Let the words
enter the room.

For performances, readings, workshops, literary collaborations, press enquiries and information about the Eruemulor & George Poetry Prize.

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