Category: Poetry
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University of Johannesburg Prize 2025 winners announced
Barbara Boswell, Siphokazi Jonas, and Shubnum Khan were announced as the University of Johannesburg Prize 2025 winners on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English, also known as the UJ Prize, was instituted in 2006. It comprises a main prize and a debut prize, given annually for…
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Opportunities for writers and poets for October 2025.
In our ongoing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work in October 2025, whether it be poetry, prose, or other related arts. These callouts are divided into education (MFAs, Fellowships, residencies), opportunity hubs, journals, and prizes. Please do us a favour and mention to whoever you applied to that you got…
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Jinja International Poetry Festival 2025 starts September 26
The Jinja International Poetry Festival 2025, with the theme “Create: The First Step to Freedom,” will be held in Jinja, Uganda, from September 26 – 28, 2025. In 2024, Ugandan poet, editor, scriptwriter, and actor Muganza Keith founded the Jinja International Poetry Festival to celebrate the poetry from one of Western Uganda’s largest cities and…
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Book Digest: Oyunga Pala, Mamady Koulibaly, Manthipe Moila, Brian Gyamfi
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by Oyunga Pala, Mamady Koulibaly, Manthipe Moila, and Brian Gyamfi. Strength and Sorrow by Oyunga Pala Publisher: IndependentDate: September 9, 2025Genre: NonfictionLanguage: EnglishWhere to find it: Oyunga Pala Oyunga Pala Oyunga Pala is a distinguished Kenyan writer, cultural commentator, and editor. For over two decades, his incisive…
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Scotland’s Saltire Literary Awards 2025 longlists announced
Mae Diansangu and Selali Fiamanya are on Scotland’s Saltire Literary Awards 2025 longlists, announced on Friday, September 12, 2025. The Saltire Literary Awards were founded to recognise books which are either by “living authors of Scottish descent or residing in Scotland,” or which deal with “the work or life of a Scot or with a…
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US National Book Awards 2025 longlists announced
The US National Book Awards 2025 longlists have been announced; here are the writers of African descent in the running. The US National Book Awards are literary awards from the Northern American nation’s National Book Foundation, established in 1936. They are conferred on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. Some of the…
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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…
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Book Digest: Open Book Festival 2025 Special Digest
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights books by ten writers who featured at the Open Book Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, in September. These ten books were written by Mpho Boshego, Lebo Mazibuko, Veruska De Vita, Ryan Pedro, Alistair Mackay, Jeffrey Rakabe, Bonnie Espie, Popina Khumanda, Sven Axelrad, and Nadia Cassim. Diplomatic Ties by…
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Literary Magazines: Okiti Literary, Ibua Journal, Joburg Review, PREE
New editions of Okiti Literary, the Ibua Journal, the Joburg Review, and PREE are now available for your reading pleasure. Okiti Literary Okiti Literary is a new biannual online literary journal based in Ondo State, Nigeria, that publishes outstanding poems from Nigerian and international writers, spanning diverse styles and traditions. The first edition features contributions…
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Opportunities for writers and poets for September 2025.
In our ongoing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work in September 2025, whether it be poetry, prose, or other related arts. These callouts are divided into education (MFAs, Fellowships, residencies), opportunity hubs, journals, and prizes. Please do us a favour and mention to whoever you applied to that you got…
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Premio Oceanos 2025 semi finalists announced
The Premio Oceanos 2025 semi-finalists were announced in São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Oceanos-Prêmio de Literatura em Língua Portuguesa (English: Oceanos-Prize for Literature in the Portuguese Language) is a Brazilian literary award for poetry and prose founded in 2003. In the first years, only works by Brazilian writers were eligible for the…
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Poetry anthology celebrating iconic Ugandan women launches
Feeling, a poetry anthology celebrating iconic Ugandan women, launched in Kampala on Thursday, July 31, 2025. Tanya Mugidde gives us this report. All photos are by Painters’ Media. How does anyone begin to describe this day that was filled with such creative energy and poetic excellence? I was so honoured to be invited as a…
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Lambda Awards 2025 shortlists announced
The Lambda Awards 2025 shortlists were announced in New York City, USA, on Thursday, July 31, 2025. Here are the writers of African descent among them. The Lambda Literary Awards, or the “Lammys,” as they are known, are an award of Lambda Literary, the oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing Lesbian, Gay, Trans, and…
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Literary Magazines: Doek, Nalubaale Review, Journal of West Indian Literature, The Shallow Tales Review
New editions of Doek, Nalubaale Review, Journal of West Indian Literature, and The Shallow Tales Review are available for your reading pleasure. Doek Doek! Literary Magazine (Doek!) is a free, independent, and Pan-African online literary magazine produced in Windhoek, Namibia. It publishes short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art from Namibia, Africa, and the African…
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Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2025 finalists announced
The Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2025 finalists were announced on Monday, July 28, 2025. Here are the writers of African descent among them. The Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry is awarded by Arrowsmith Press, in conjunction with Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and The Walcott Festival in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. It is awarded to a full-length book…