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Isabelle Baafi

イザベル・バーフィ

Izaberu Bāfi

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
London, England
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Unknown
Residence History
London, England

Career

Occupations
Writer, Editor
Active Years
2019-2025
Affiliations
Poetry London (reviews editor), Magma (board member), Obsidian Foundation Fellow
Nominations
T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlisted, 2025, Chaotic Good), Brunei International African Poetry Prize (shortlisted, 2021), Bridport Prize (shortlisted, 2020), Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition (shortlisted, 2019)

Education

University of Kent
comparative literature and film
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Country: United Kingdom
University of Oxford
creative writing
Degree: postgraduate degree
Country: United Kingdom
postgraduate

Awards

Forward Prize
2025
Work: Chaotic Good
Category: Best First Collection
Organization: Forward Prizes for Poetry
Result: Winner
Somerset Maugham Award
2021
Work: Ripe
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: Winner
Winchester Poetry Prize
2023
Work: The Path of Least Resilience
Organization: Winchester Poetry Festival
Result: Winner
Vincent Cooper Literary Prize
2019
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ripe

2020 Poetry

Debut poetry pamphlet.

Chaotic Good

2025 Poetry

First full poetry collection.

Bibliography

  • Ripe (Ignition Press, 2020)
  • Chaotic Good (Faber & Faber, 2025)

Legacy

Emerging star in contemporary British poetry, winner of the 2025 Forward Prize for Best First Collection.

Trivia

  • Of Jamaican and South African descent.
  • Reviews editor of Poetry London.