British-Ghanaian poet Dzifa Benson has won the UK’s leading poetry prize, the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship.
The prize was set up to recognise and give a platform to the next generation of British poets – whose writers reflects what it means to live and work in Britain today.
Born to Ghanaian parents in London, Dzifa grew up in Ghana, Nigeria and Togo and now lives in London.
She told the BBC it was encouraging to have her work acknowledged.
“It kind of inspires you and makes you want to do better,” she said.
She plans to take a break and finish writing her poetry book and visit her mother in Ghana.
“The $33,000 (£15,000) will allow me to take my feet off the gas a bit and have a few weeks of relaxation or a few weeks where I can at least focus on my own writing rather than writing to earn a living,” she said.
