Category: Poetry
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Opportunities for writers and poets for August 2025.
In our ongoing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work in August 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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Isaac Kanyinji wins Ubwali Hope Prize 2025
Isaac Kanyinji was announced the Ubwali Hope Prize 2025 winner on Saturday, June 26, 2025. Ubwali is a literary magazine founded to showcase Zambian voices in 2014 that has published four editions. One of their projects is the Ubwali Hope Prize, organised in partnership with Shenandoah, to celebrate the best of Zambian prose and poetry,…
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Zacarias Nguenha wins Prémio Literário Fernando Leite Couto 2025
Zacarias Lucas Lázaro Nguenha was announced the winner of the Prémio Literário Fernando Leite Couto 2024 in Maputo, Mozambique, on Thursday, July 17, 2024. Fernando Leite Couto was a Mozambican journalist, writer, poet, and translator. Prémio Literário Fernando Leite Couto (English: The Fernando Leite Couto Literary Prize) was founded in his honour by the Mia…
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Forward Prizes for Poetry 2025 shortlists announced
The Forward Prizes for Poetry 2025 shortlists were announced in London, UK, on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Here are the writers of African descent in the running. The Forward Prizes for Poetry were founded by William Sieghart to celebrate excellence in poetry and increase its audience in 1992. There are four prizes on offer in…
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Jedidiah Mugarura wins Sillerman First Book Prize 2025
Jedidiah Mugarura’s poetry manuscript Nyamuteza was declared the Sillerman First Book Prize 2025 winner on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry, named after benefactors Laura and Robert F. X. Sillerman, is awarded annually to an African who has not yet published a full collection of poetry. Some of the…
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Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize 2024 winners announced
The Safal Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2024 winners were announced in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The Safal Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature celebrates writing in poetry and prose in the Kiswahili language. It is supported by Safal Group, through its subsidiaries Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya and…
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Guyana Prize for Literature 2025 winners announced
The Guyana Prize for Literature 2025 winners were announced at a ceremony in Georgetown, Guyana, on Friday, July 5, 2025. The Guyana Prize for Literature was founded to promote the development of local literature by President Desmond Hoyte in 1987. Prizes were awarded biennially in categories that included best book of fiction, best first book…
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Prémio Literário Mia Couto 2025 finalists announced
The Prémio Literário Mia Couto 2025 finalists were announced in Beira, Mozambique on Saturday, July 5, 2025. Prémio Literário Mia Couto (English: Mia Couto Literary Prize) was set up in honour of Beira’s foremost literary export, Mozambique author Mia Couto. Couto has written numerous books which gave him awards like the Camões Prize in 2013,…
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Book Digest: Abdourahman A. Waberi, Sihle Ntuli, Damion Spencer, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Sihle Ntuli, Damion Spencer, and Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo. Owele by Sihle Ntuli Publisher: Uhlanga PressDate: July 1, 2025Genre: PoetryLanguage: EnglishWhere to find it: Uhlanga Press Sihle Ntuli Sihle Ntuli was born in KwaMashu in 1990. He holds an MA in Classics from Rhodes…
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Isele Prize 2025 winners announced
Josiah Ikpe, Fatima Abdullahi, and Tolu Daniel are the Isele Awards 2025 winners; the announcement was made on Friday, June 27, 2025. The Isele Prizes were founded to celebrate the best short stories, poetry, and essays by writers published in Isele Magazine, founded in 2022, with a panel of two judges in each category. The…
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Opportunities for writers and poets for July 2025.
In our ongoing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work in July 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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Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2024 shortlists announced
The Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature 2024 shortlists were announced in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, June 26, 2025. The Safal Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature celebrates writing in poetry and prose in the Kiswahili language. It is supported by Safal Group, through its subsidiaries Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya and ALAF Tanzania, in…
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Book Digest: Leila Mottley, Babanifesi B. Apata, Catherine-Esther Cowie, Denne Michele Norris
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by Leila Mottley, Babanifesi B. Apata, Catherine-Esther Cowie, and Denne Michele Norris. The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley Publisher: KnopfDate: June 24, 2025Genre: FictionLanguage: EnglishWhere to find it: Penguin Random House, Leila Mottley Leila Mottley Leila Mottley is the author of the novel Nightcrawling, an…
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Literary Magazines: Lolwe, Lọúnlọún, Nenta, Kweli Journal
New editions of Lolwe, Lọúnlọún, Nenta, and Kweli Journal are now available for your reading pleasure. Lolwe Lolwe is a Pan-African literary arts platform that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid writing, orature, drama, translation, and visual art. Founded in January 2020 by Troy Onyango, the magazine has a focus on amplifying the work by writers,…
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Ameen Animashaun wins Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2025
Ameen Animashaun was announced the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2025 winner on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. The Brunel International African Poetry Prize, founded by Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, was established in 2012 to revitalise African poetry and provide a new generation of poets with an international platform. It was won by Warsan Shire…