Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards 2025 longlists announced.

The longlists for Namibia’s Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards 2025 were announced in Windhoek on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards were introduced to the African literary community in 2021 by Doek. Contributors to the Doek Magazine were entered in the categories of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art for this unique competition from the Southern African country. The first winners of the bi-annual awards were Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo, Natasha Uys, and Pauline Buhle Ndhlovu, while the 2023 winners were Roxane Bayer, Nina Van Zyl, and Veripuamu Nandee Kangumine.

The 2025 fiction, nonfiction, and poetry jury is comprised of writer Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo, Africa Blossom Consultancy CC founder and manager Samuel Mayinoti, and Namibian writer, literary translator, and lecturer Sylvia Schlettwein. The visual art juror is the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) Director Michelle Van Wyk. The longlistees announced on Wednesday are,

Fiction

• Flesh Of The Sun, Hugh Ellis (Issue 15: July, 2025)
• What The Sycamores Saw, Katherine Hunter (Issue 15: July, 2024)
• V and Jen, Tjimamutja Pehape Katjiongua (Issue 12: December, 2023)
• Untethered, Jason Kooper (Issue 13: August, 2024)
• Poisoned Pawn, Jeremy Tiboth (Issue 14: December, 2024)

Nonfiction

• Sonic Overload: Auralgraph From Cairo, Filemon Iiyambo (Issue 15: August, 2025)
• I’ll Tell You Why I Was Late For Church Yesterday: Auralgraph From Gobabis, 1965, Perivi Katjivivi (Issue 14: December, 2024)

Poetry

• In The Shadow Of Reflection, Man Enough, and When I Wake Up, Jedidja Kakuva (Issue 15: August, 2025)
• Aminus: Pos 11, Identity, I Have Not Yet Learned To Swim, Vekondjisa Nosipho Katusuva (Issue 15: August, 2025)
• Enough, If Broken Glass Floated, To Be Forgotten, Ethel Mwalifa (Issue 14: December, 2024)
• A Departed Body And Soul and A Road, Scholastika Namutenya Negongo (Issue 12: December, 2023)
• The Algorithm Of Fading Fathers, The Ombindu That Remains Of Us, The Oshikundu That Never Fermented, Johannes Shikongo (Issue 15: August, 2025)
• Portrait Of My Grandfather and Fig Tree, Tjizembua Tjikuzu (Issue 13: August, 2024)

Visual Art

• Between Light And Shadow, Martin Amushendje (Issue 15: August, 2025)
• Solitude, Luigi Arnat (Issue 12: December, 2023)
• Kasino Street, Natache Sylvia Ilonga (Issue 12: December, 2023)
• Your Wings From The Back, Omen Keisho (Issue 15: August, 2025)

The shortlistees and winners will be announced in due course.