Penned in Rage Literary Journal


Magazine's Masthead
Editor-in-Chief
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto
Email: echinua (at) yahoo (dot) com
Graphic & Visual Content Editor
Bridgette James
Website: ellaspoems.com | Creative Writing
Poetry Editor
Chukwuebuka Freedom Onyishi
Osahon Oka
Submissions CLOSED
Send Us Your Stories, Essays & Art
August 1- Midnight August 31st
Find and rate us at Chill Subs Penned in Rage Literary Journal - Chill Subs
Mission Statement
Penned in Rage Journal amplifies voices from marginalized and underrepresented communities.
The Journal is part of the Ella's Poems Project, launched in January 2022. This project uses creative writing activities to achieve these objectives:
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The main focus of this project is to promote a love for reading in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Ella’s Poems targets young people in the African continent, between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five - who are active online - in a bid to create a writers' hub on Facebook. Many creatives have found this sort of networking has not only helped them improve their writing skills but more importantly they'd been able to discover local writing opportunities.
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Ella’s Poem’s Project also celebrates the work of African creatives, such as their art, poems, stories and novels, irrespective of one’s social status.
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Many of the creatives who have benefited from this initiative have never written a poem or story in English before. So, our free writing competitions and published books, positively impact their lives.

Latest News Articles
The 2026 Bridgette James competition was won by South African Poet, Janine Milne. Go the Competition News Page to read more.
Penned in Rage Edition 5,
Goes Live June 30th


The winner of the Youngest Submitter Prize, in The 2026 Bridgette James Poetry Competition, is Fifteen-year-old Olivia Caldeira. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is still trying to find her true self. Writing is a constant in her life. This is her first time submitting her work anywhere. She hopes to grow her writing skills and is grateful for this opportunity
Soil Unfurling from Stem is a multi-author collection of nature poems from sub-Saharan Africa. Contributors include Dr Kayode Adesimi Robbin-Coker an English Language and Literature graduate of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Dr Jive Lubbungu from Zambia, Chukwuebuka Freedom Onyishi, the current Winner of the 2025 Coalition of African Literature, a Nonprofit organisation in Nigeria and fifteen-year-old Namibian secondary school student, Utaara Tjozongoro.
A Best of The Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, Chukwuebuka Onyishi is also a Poetry Editor of Penned in Rage Journal. Onyishi was the runner-up in The Annual Bridgette James Poetry Competition, 2025. He is an English and Literary Studies graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is the current Winner of the 2025 COAL (The Coalition of African Literature, a Nonprofit organisation in Nigeria), in partnership with the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network and the SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative.
About the Editor-in-Chief of Penned in Rage
Chinụa Ezenwa-Ọhaeto is an Igbo and Nigerian poet, fiction and nonfiction writer, and essayist, exploring the themes of culture, religion, lineage, ancestry, divination (dibia afa), post-colonialism, migration and the complexities of existence. He became a runner-up in the Sparks Poetry Competition, Memorial University, Canada, 2023. In 2018, he won the Castello di Duino Poesia Prize and the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize (EOPP). In 2019, he was the winner of the Sevhage/Angus Poetry Prize. Winner of the Special ANMIG (National Association of the Mutilated and Invalids of War) prize: promotion of feelings of brotherhood between peoples, love of freedom and defense of peace, organized by Centro Giovani e Poesia di Triuggio, Italy, 2022. In 2023, Ezenwa-Ọhaeto was shortlisted for Writivism Poetry Prize, the Alpine Poetry Fellowship, and the 2024 runner-up in the African and Africa American Studies Program (AAASP) Best Graduate Paper Prize hosted by the Institute for Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His works have appeared in Isele Magazine, Poetry Ireland Review, Oxford Poetry, Massachusetts Review, Frontier, Palette, The Common, Southword Magazine, Poet Lore, Colorado Review, Mud Season Review, Notra Dame, Anmly, The Republic, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Ruminate and elsewhere. His full- length poetry collection, The Naming, was published on December 1, 2025 with African Poetry Book Fund via Nebraska press. The Naming explores the movements, excesses, and extremes of existing as a postmodern individual, connecting these experiences to familial ancestry and lineage. The poems in this collection examine the various ways one remains tied to their ancestors which spanned eleven generations by re-imagining memories, history, childhood, homestead, kinship, migration, and the intersections of the past, present, and possible futures. Through this exploration, the collection seeks to rebuild a world that doesn’t merely replicate realities but reinvents, enshrines, and re-stories them.
Website: https://www.chinuaezenwa-ohaeto.com/

Contributor Payment Notice
I value and appreciate every creative voice that contributes to my publications. At present, I am unable to offer financial compensation for submissions. All contributions are on a voluntary basis - except where work was solicited for $10 USD - and I aim to provide a platform for your work to reach a wider audience.
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