Heart2World Publishing, a leading Nigerian ghostwriting and self-publishing company, celebrated its 10th anniversary at Litfest, an event that also included the announcement of the winner of the inaugural Heart2World Book Prize, a poetry book prize.

Omobodunde Ajayi emerged as the winner of the Heart2World Book Prize, selected from a pool of 112 submissions. The prize package includes a cash award of N250,000, 100% royalties on net sales revenue, 12 months of editorial, publishing, and marketing support valued at N5,000,000, printing and distribution of 500 paperback copies, and placement in bookstores across the country, as well as on an accessible e-book platform.

The book prize was created to turn the spotlight on poetry as a form of creative writing that is often overshadowed by fiction, and to celebrate poets whose work deserves a wider audience.

Speaking at LITFEST, the founder of Heart2World Publishing, Oluwatobi Adesanya, disclosed, “most prizes often celebrate fiction writers, and we wanted to choose an aspect of creative writing that is often not as celebrated, which is poetry. We also wanted this book prize to be our opportunity to give back to the creative community that we have played in over the years.”

Conversations during LITFEST surfaced several themes affecting creatives globally, including community and finding the support needed to explore different aspects of one’s creativity.

In her keynote address, Linda Temienor-Vincent, a Global Voices Scholar, emphasised the importance of community in democratising wins in the creative space. She shared how, after she became the only African winner of the Global Voices Award, other creatives who were interested in the award reached out to her, and that by sharing her journey, someone in her network went on to win the award’s subsequent edition.

“It is one thing to be a winner,” she said, “but it is even more important to support others in their journey to exploring their creative potential by building the systems that ensure this”

Sharing his excitement about winning the prize, Ajayi described how difficult it was to find a book prize dedicated to poetry and how delighted he was to find one and eventually win it.

“This is such a great and rare opportunity. While authors like Tolu Akinyemi (aka Poetolu) have inspired the possibilities in my poetry journey, I am happy to have made it this far, and I am excited to explore the opportunities this book prize will bring.”

Another theme that emerged during the conversations at Litfest was finding one’s footing as a multipotentiality.

Moyosoreoluwa Eleso-Otefia, popularly known as TheSabiHost, noted that having multiple potentials do not mean one should be scattered, but rather that one should build a core skill and then build structure around it, since these expressions often share a connecting factor that needs to be identified.

The event also featured a panel conversation, followed by a Question and Answer session where creatives asked speakers about emerging trends and marketing authored books.

Speaking on how the role of authors has changed over the past decade, Adesanya said, “book distribution has changed compared to what it used to be 10 years ago. Authors often expect their books to be published and then just make sales — no. Typically, an author’s track record is what often pushes the sales of the book. Authors are also expected now to wear multiple hats, including taking the front row of marketing their books; this is the only way to break through the noise.”

LITFEST was proudly sponsored by Poetry Journal, Sprinng, Reel Fruits, OK Foods, Addme, and Fanmilk.

Taking the key themes and questions raised at LITFEST as feedback, Heart2World Publishing will be cascading the conversations from the event into a community where creatives can access the support and resources needed to fully maximise their potential.

Founded in 2016 by Adesanya, Heart2World Publishing is a full-service ghostwriting and
publishing company born from a desire to help people share the stories, ideas, and experiences closest to their hearts.

Over the past decade, it has ghostwritten over 400 books across four continents, with nearly 100,000 copies in print spanning memoirs, business guides, fiction, and self-help, helping authors turn their stories into legacies. Heart2World.

The event was held on September 25 2026, and brought together poets, authors, industry stakeholders, and creatives across the publishing space.