Professional Development of a Translated Anthology of Nigerian Women’s Poetry for International Academic Markets

The international visibility of Nigerian women's poetry is significantly constrained by the absence of professionally edited, contextualised, and widely distributed anthologies that present this work to global academic audiences in both original languages and English translation. This study undertook the professional development of an anthology of Nigerian women's poetry, focusing on women writing in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Nigerian English from the South West, South East, North West, and South South geopolitical zones. A professional anthology development methodology was employed, including poet identification and selection criteria development, consultation with six poetry scholars, review of twelve existing African poetry anthologies for comparative editorial approach analysis, and development of translation and contextualisation protocols. Selection criteria were developed to balance geographic, linguistic, generational, and thematic representation. The methodology produced both an editorial framework for the anthology and a set of professional standards for contextualisation notes, biographical introductions, and translator selection. Consultation with three publishers of African literary work confirmed market viability. The study identifies a significant gap in the international comparative literature market for Nigerian women's voices and recommends that the anthology project be carried forward by a university press in partnership with the Association of Nigerian Authors and the Women in Literature working group of the Association of English Studies in Nigerian Institutions. The framework developed constitutes a professional resource for any future anthology development project in this area.

Keywords: anthology, Nigerian women's poetry, literary translation, international publishing, comparative poetry