Niyi Osundare is a highly respected Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic. A champion of free speech, his art and criticism is associated with activism. His many awards, accolades and honours include the Noma Award, Ana Poetry Prize, Nigerian National Order of Merit, The Tchicaya U Tam'si Prize for African Poetry (regarded as Africa's highest poetry prize). His published works include:

Songs from the Marketplace (1983)

Village Voices (1984)

The Eye of the Earth (1986, winner of a Commonwealth Poetry Prize and the poetry prize of the Association of Nigerian Authors)

Moonsongs (1988)

Songs of the Season (1999)

Waiting Laughters (1990, winner of the Noma Award)

Selected Poems (1992)

Midlife (1993)

Thread in the Loom: Essays on African Literature and Culture (2002)

The Word is an Egg (2002)

The State Visit (2002, play)

Pages from the Book of the Sun: New and Selected Poems (2002)

Early Birds (2004)

Two Plays (2005)

Not My Business (2005)

Tender Moments:Love Poems (2006)

City Without People: The Katrina Poems (2011)

Random Blues (2011)

If Only the Road Could Talk (2017)