Terminal Maladies Named as a Finalist for the 2026 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry

Autumn House Press is excited to announce that Owkudili Nebeolisa’s Terminal Maladies has been selected as a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards Poetry category.

Terminal Maladies serves as an intimate exploration of the relationship between a mother and son and their emotional journey during her battle with cancer. Throughout the book, Nebeolisa attempts to reconcile his guilt of starting a new life in the United States, far away from his mother and his home in Nigeria. The collection “insists on the necessity of memory and the inevitability of elegy.”

A special thank you to the judges, The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, and the dedicated members of the literary community of Minnesota and beyond, who make awards like this possible.

Congratulations to AHP author Owkudili Nebeolisa!

Read the full list of all Minnesota Book Awards finalists here.