Editorial Leadership

Su’ur Su’eddie Vershima Agema

Editor-in-Chief / Founding Editor
Su’ur Su’eddie Vershima Agema is a multiple award-winning writer, editor, development practitioner and cultural curator working across the UK Midlands and the Nigerian Middle Belt. His multi-specialist work bridges literature, education, gender advocacy, youth engagement, climate awareness, and community transformation. Over the years, he has led and contributed to several development initiatives focused on cultural education, literacy, peacebuilding, gender justice and environmental consciousness, working with young people, educators, community groups and emerging creatives across Nigeria and the UK. He is the Founder and Festival Director of the Benue Book and Arts Festival (BBAAF), leads SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers. His creative, editorial work, and critical practice foregrounds storytelling as a tool for healing, advocacy and social change. His works spans poetry, cultural criticism and community-centred development projects. His collections, including Memory and the Call of Waters, have received national and international recognition. He continues to mentor writers, curate cultural spaces, and contribute to development discourse through essays, workshops and collaborative projects. He oversees the editorial direction and strategic development of SEVHAGE [Midland] Reviews.

Prof Hyginus Ekwuazi

Professor of Media, Film and Broadcasting; Writer and Scholar
Prof Hyginus Ekwuazi is one of Nigeria’s most respected scholars of film, media and cultural studies. A renowned multiple award-winning writer, critic, filmmaker and poet, he has contributed significantly to the development of film education and literary discourse in West Africa. He has taught at the University of Ibadan and the Pan-African University, Lekki, and also served as Vice Chancellor of Dominican University, Ibadan. Prof Ekwuazi was the Pioneer Director of the National Film Institute (NFI), Jos, and later Director General of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). His professional engagements include serving as Lead Consultant and Trainer for the World Bank–GEM Capacity Building Programme for Nollywood, and as Multimedia Consultant for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja in 2003. His books, academic work and mentorship have shaped generations of writers, filmmakers and scholars. His experience in narrative form, cultural studies and creative pedagogy enriches the journal’s multidisciplinary outlook.

Prof Maria Ajima

Professor of English and Literary Studies; Scholar of African Literature and Gender Studies
Prof Maria Ajima is a distinguished scholar of English and Literary Studies and one of the leading voices in African literary scholarship, gender studies and cultural theory. A multiple award-winning short story writer and poet, she combines creative achievement with academic depth in her work. She is a former President of the Women Writers Association of Nigeria (WRITA) and currently serves as a Trustee of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Africa’s largest and most influential writers’ organisation. Through these roles, she has championed literary development, women’s writing and cultural advocacy across Nigeria. Her scholarship explores questions of representation, identity, womanhood and contemporary African writing. Her insight and experience strengthen the journal’s analytical frameworks and its commitment to inclusive, socially conscious literary and cultural discourse.

Editorial Team, Associates and Contributors

Dr Agatha Agema

Editor (Public Health, Development and Creative Writing)

Dr Agatha Agema is a public health professional, researcher and writer with experience across maternal health, early childhood development and development communication. A Chevening Scholar with a master’s degree in International Public Health from the University of Leeds, she has produced technical reports, training materials, abstracts, concept notes and a peer-reviewed research paper. She has also worked as a Public Health Improvement Coordinator in a local authority, with a focus on early childhood, also previously served as a strategic officer for a telemedicine platform as well as an M&E officer for the Smile for Mothers programme in Niger State, Nigeria. Her more recent role was as a Public Health and Commissioning Manager with the Nottinghamshire Country Council. She is also a poet and author of acclaimed poetry chapbook, The Enchanting, as well as winner of the 2023 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Criticism at the Lagos Book and Arts Festival. In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Falling Walls Lab in Berlin, where she presented work on safer water practices.

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Dr Tine Agernor

Editor (Education, Gender & Development)
Dr Tine Agernor is a development and humanitarian professional with wide-ranging experience in education, gender, climate change, governance and community resilience. Over the past decade, he has worked extensively on projects supporting women, young people, displaced communities and other marginalised groups, bringing strong expertise in research, facilitation, policy engagement and capacity development. He is also an active commentator on social issues, contributing analysis on governance, community livelihoods and emerging development challenges. His commitment to equity, sustainability and social justice enriches the journal’s interdisciplinary outlook and strengthens its engagement with development practice.

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Oko Owoicho

Writer, Editor and Cultural Commentator
Oko Owoicho is a writer and cultural interlocutor whose work spans creative writing, literary reflections and arts journalism. A multiple award winning spoken art artist and poet, Oko is currently a postgraduate scholar of English Literature at the University of Abuja. He contributes reviews, essays and editorial insights to the journal and is known for his attentive reading and engagement with contemporary African writing.

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Sarah Egbo

Contributor and Community-Engaged Creative
Sarah Egbo is a gender and development expert with a strong passion for sexual and reproductive health and rights, quality education, technology, as well as youth development. A Chevening Alum from the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies, Sarah is currently a doctorate candidate at Kansas State University, Manhattan Kansas. She writes across culture and development, bringing more insight on the intersections between community narratives and social transformation, especially with gender lenses. She brings creative contributions and critical sensitivity to the journal’s output.

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MaryAnn Ifeanacho

Reviewer, Writer and Literary Enthusiast
MaryAnn Ifeanacho is a Nigerian writer with a deep love for languages, psychology, literature, and film. She is fluent in Spanish and has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Hertfordshire. MaryAnn has been published in the African Writer’s Magazine, JayLit, SEVHAGE, the Kalahari Review, and Konya Shamsrumi. She was shortlisted for the 2011 UBA National Essay Writing Competition, the 2017 African Rubiz Prize for Prose, the 2017 Poets in Nigeria (PIN) Food Poetry Competition, and, most recently, the 2023 Fab Prize for Children’s Fiction. Her novella, ‘An Estate of Ironies,’ was also a finalist for the 2024 WTAW Alcove Chapbook Competition. The same novella was shortlisted for publication in February 2025 by The Emma Press, an independent press in the United Kingdom, while her short story Mykonos in Congealed Blood was published as part of Flame Tree Publishing’s African Ghost Stories Anthology in April 2024. Her creative nonfiction piece, Ignorance is Brit, was also published by JayLit in July 2024, while her short piece, Through Thick and Thin, was published in Cónscìò Magazine in December 2024. Besides being a 2023 Kimbilio fellow, MaryAnn is a Senior Writer at StoryTerrace, an international memoir writing service, and the Head of Story at Toon Central Hub, an Afro-centric comic platform dedicated to giving African mangakas/comic artists and writers a stage to share their stories. She has written memoirs for various high-ranking clients in business and the military. In June 2025, she facilitated a workshop on Memoirs and Autofiction for Croydon Council’s Community Writing and Wellness Group, and later on in August, her afro-fantastical short story, Ajja and the Children of Nature, was published by Afritondo. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Global Majority Writers’ group. MaryAnn contributes reviews, commentaries and creative reflections. Her work draws on a keen interest in literature, poetry and cultural engagement. She supports both editorial review and content development across the journal.

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Extended Network of Contributors

SEVHAGE [Midland] Reviews works with a broad and evolving community of writers, scholars, creative practitioners, development workers, reviewers and cultural thinkers. Contributors are drawn from across Africa, the UK and the global diaspora. Their voices ensure that the journal remains diverse, vibrant and responsive to contemporary conversations in literature, education, development and cultural life.

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Invitation to Collaborate

We welcome partnerships, guest editors, invited essays and special-themed collaborations. Enquiries may be directed to:
📧 sevhagereviews@gmail.com