Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 10, 2026

Isabelle Baafi

Isabelle Baafi is an English writer and editor, noted for her poetry.

Last revised
Aug 10, 2026
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Isabelle Baafi
Born
London, England, UK
EducationUniversity of Kent
University of Oxford
OccupationsWriter and editor
Notable workRipe (2020);
Chaotic Good (2025)
AwardsSomerset Maugham Award
Websiteisabellebaafi.com

Isabelle Baafi is an English writer and editor, noted for her poetry.

Her writing has appeared in various publications, including The Times Literary Supplement, The London Magazine, The Poetry Review, Oxford Poetry, and Magma Poetry.12 She is the reviews editor of Poetry London.3

Background

Baafi was born in London, England,2 and is of Jamaican and South African descent.3

She studied at the University of Kent, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in comparative literature and film.4 She also earned a postgraduate degree in creative writing from the University of Oxford.5

She was the winner of the 2019 Vincent Cooper Literary Prize,6 and was shortlisted for the 2019 Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition, presented by the Oxford Brookes University.7

Baafi's 2020 debut pamphlet, Ripe, won a Somerset Maugham Award and was the Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice for Spring 2021.72 Baafi was also shortlisted for the 2020 Bridport Prize and the 2021 Brunei International African Poetry Prize.8

Baafi has served as a Ledbury poetry critic, an Obsidian Foundation Fellow, and a board member at Magma.910 In 2023, Baafi was the winner of the Winchester Poetry Prize (presented by the Winchester Poetry Festival held in Winchester) for her poem "The Path of Least Resilience".11

Baafi's first poetry collection, Chaotic Good, published by Faber & Faber, won the 2025 Forward Prize for Best First Collection.12 It was also shortlisted for the 2025 T. S. Eliot Prize13 and selected as a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for summer 2025.14

Awards

Publications

References

References

  1. "Isabelle Baafi". Faber & Faber.
  2. McCartney, Greg (September 2024). "Features | Isabelle Baafi | An Interview". The Honest Ulsterman. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  3. "About us". Poetry London. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  4. "Poets". Oxford Brookes University. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  5. "Isabelle Baafi". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  6. "The Caribbean Writer Announces Volume 33 Prize Winners". The Caribbean Writer (Press release). 13 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  7. "Meet Isabelle Baafi". Poetry Book Society. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  8. "The African Poetry Prize | Winners, Shortlists & Judges". Brunei International African Poetry Prize. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  9. "Tutors | Isabelle Baafi". Arvon Foundation. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  10. Baafi, Isabelle (2 February 2021). "Interview with Nick Makoha about the Obsidian Foundation". Magma Poetry. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  11. Atkinson, Christopher (24 October 2023). "Latest Winchester Poetry Festival Declared a Success by Organisers". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  12. Loffhagen, Emma (26 October 2025). "Forward prize names poets Vidyan Ravinthiran and Karen Solie its first joint winners". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  13. "2025 – T. S. Eliot Prize". T. S. Eliot Prize. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  14. "Chaotic Good by Isabelle Baafi | Poetry Book Society Recommendation Summer 2025". Poetry Book Society. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
External links