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Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2025 starts November 10
The Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2025, with the theme “CHANGE: Imagining Alternatives,” runs in West Africa’s largest city from November 10 – 16, 2025. The Lagos Book & Art Festival, popularly known as LABAF, is an annual arts festival founded by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), a Nigerian-based cultural organisation, in 1999. They…
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Opportunities for writers and poets for November 2025.
In our ongoing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work in November 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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Theresa Lola wins Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2025
Theresa Lola’s poetry collection was declared the winner of the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2025 on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. 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 of poems by…
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Book Digest: Nathacha Appanah, Adedayo Agarau, Stella Dadzie, Donika Kelly
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by Nathacha Appanah, Adedayo Agarau, Stella Dadzie, and Donika Kelly. La Nuit au Cœur by Nathacha Appanah Publisher: Editions GallimardDate: August 21, 2025Genre: Fiction Language: French Where to find it: Editions Gallimard Nathacha Appanah Nathacha Appanah is a Mauritian-French author known for her novels, which often explore…
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Nathacha Appanah is Prix Goncourt 2025 finalist
Nathacha Appanah’s novel La nuit au Cœur is among the Prix Goncourt 2025 finalists announced in Paris, France, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. The Prix Goncourt is given by the French Académie Goncourt to the author of “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year”. While it only has a token prize of…
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Forward Prizes for Poetry 2025 winners announced
Isabelle Baafi and Griot Gabriel won in their categories at the Forward Prizes for Poetry 2025 ceremony in London, UK, on Sunday, October 26, 2025. 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 the Forward…
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South African Literary Awards 2025 shortlists announced.
The South African Literary Awards 2025 shortlists were announced in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday, October 27, 2025. The South African Literary Awards, popularly known as the SALAs, organised by wRite associates, have honoured many authors since they were founded in 2005. Winning writers and poets have included Es’kia Mphahlele, Nadine Gordimer, Miriam Tlali, Lauretta…
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Premio Oceanos 2025 finalists announced
Mia Couto, Francisco Guita Jr, and José Eduardo Agualusa are among the Premio Oceanos 2025 finalists announced in São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Prêmio Oceanos 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…
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Omotara James wins at Lambda Literary Awards 2025
Omotara James’ poetry collection Song of My Softening won at the Lambda Literary Awards 2025 in New York, USA on Sunday, October 5, 2025. 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 Queer (LGBTQ)…
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Future Awards Africa Prize 2025 finalists announced.
Here are the literature finalists of the Future Awards Africa Prize 2025 announced in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. The Future Awards Africa, also known as The Future Awards, are a set of awards given by The Future Project, a social enterprise set up with a commitment to human and capital development in…
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Ignyte Awards 2025 winners announced
The Ignyte Awards 2025 winners, the fifth edition of the award scheme, were announced on Sunday, October 12, 2025. Fiyah is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine featuring stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora based in the USA, founded in 2016. In 2021, they hosted FIYAHCON for Black, Indigenous, and People of…
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Book Digest: José Eduardo Agualusa, Kopano Matlwa, Anote Ajeluorou, Jasmaine Payne
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by José Eduardo Agualusa, Kopano Matlwa, Anote Ajeluorou, and Jasmaine Payne. Todo Sobre Deus by José Eduardo Agualusa Publisher: Quetzal EditoresDate: October 2025Genre: Fiction Language: Portuguese Where to find it: Quetzal Editores José Eduardo Agualusa José Eduardo Agualusa was born in the city of Huambo, Angola, on…
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Nathacha Appanah is Prix Femina 2025 finalist
Nathacha Appanah’s novel La nuit au cœur was declared a Prix Femina 2025 finalist in Paris, France, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse (today known as Femina) in 1904. It is decided each year by an exclusively female…
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British Virgin Islands Literary Festival 2025 starts November 6
The British Virgin Islands Literary Festival 2025, with the theme “Long Story Short,” runs in Road Town, British Virgin Islands, from November 6 – 9, 2025. The British Virgin Islands Literary Arts Festival is an annual gathering of writers, poets, publishers, booksellers, and book lovers, celebrating the literary arts and the creative process. It was…
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iLembe Book Festival 2025 starts October 23
The iLembe Book Festival 2025, under the theme, “Reading is a Right, Not a Privilege,” runs in Groutville, KwaDukuza, South Africa from October 23 – 25, 2025. The iLembe Book Festival is a collective effort of award-winning novelist Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, author and journalist Dudu Busani-Dube, and writer Ayanda Xaba. First hosted in 2024 by…
