This February, we will be announcing the winners of the very 1st Aze Young Poets Contest (of 2020/21)! #staytunedforresults. But first, meet our esteemed panel of judges.
Background: On November 19 2011, our eldest brother Austin “Zero” Eke passed away. On November 19 2020 under the umbrella of The Sebaus Foundation, the annual AZE Young Poets Contest was launched in his honor, to immortalize his passion for education, youth empowerment and the literary Arts. Please read full details here..
Even with 2020 being the first year of its inception, entries were highly competitive. Kudos to the AMAZING JUDGES who volunteered their time, intellect and more to select, critique, rate and give in-depth feedback on the rationale behind each ranking!
Tundee Saunders
A petroleum supply and logistics Lead, Entrepreneur and Investor. She devotes much of her free time to the literary arts, youth development, emotional intelligence training and social justice awareness.
She is based in the Bahamas, West Indies.
Nkem Akinsoto
(Pen name: Myne Whitman)
A Seattle-based writer, editor and publisher from Nigeria. She is the author of two romance novels, both of which rose to the top of Amazon.com bestseller lists for romantic fiction within their first few months of being self-published.
She is also a blogger, social media consultant and project manager.
Her passions include sharing stories, youth empowerment, building communities and encouraging people to develop their writing skills and confidence.
Paula Eke (Peer Judge)
Paula Eke (Peer Judge): Paula is a talented 13-year old who loves reading, writing poems, listening to songs, making music and exploring the Arts.
A commended poet herself and school pupil, she enjoyed rating the poems.
Paula encourages youth all around the world to explore the world of poetry and try writing as a means of self-expression, even if they think they cannot.
Uchenna Onukwugha
A program management leader specializing in digital transformation and project implementation.
Her personal goals are supporting and encouraging people development, organizational efficiency and youth empowerment.
Ndidi Eke
The Head of Drama, at a secondary school in London.
Her daily job and passion are geared towards teaching and inspiring young people to embrace the Arts as an essential part of life and culture.
Her desire is to see young people express themselves and change perceptions through the magic of the Arts – be it in creative writing, singing, dancing or acting.
Sushila Ifeyinwa Chukwura
A Nigeria-based medical professional specializing in medical microbiology, diagnostic/laboratory medicine and research.
Outsides her scientific and highly acclaimed works, her spare hours are invested in education, youth development, reading, writing and leading social empowerment micro-causes, one family at a time.
Helena “Chinweoke” Eke
Contest Coordinator & Sponsor: Helena “Chinweoke” Eke is the Founder of The Sebaus Foundation and youngest sibling of the Late Austin “Zero” Eke.
Outside her work hours as a Business services + HR consultant, her focus is on furthering rural educational opportunities, literacy, poverty alleviation and people empowerment especially for disadvantaged groups.
A published poet herself, her works have been selected and published in three anthologies; Uncle Bola’s Promise (Abuja Literary Society, 2002), The Gospel According To Poetry (T. Cole Jenkins, 2014) and Shifts: An Anthology of Women’s Growth Through Change (MuseWrite Press, 2015). The latter was a Finalist in the 2015 Indie Book Awards and the 2015 USA Best Book Awards.
She loves travel, kids, cooking, learning new things every day, graphic design, community-building and whenever possible, she blogs at https://chichitravel.blog/