Monica Arac de Nyeko is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays, living in Nairobi. In 2007 she became the first Ugandan to win the Caine Prize for African Writing, with her story "Jambula Tree". She had previously been shortlisted for the prize in 2004 for "Strange Fruit", a story about child soldiers in Gulu, Northern Uganda. She is a member of FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers Association and the chief editor of T:AP Voices. She taught literature and English at St. Mary's College Kisubi before proceeding to pursue a Master in Humanitarian Assistance at the University of Groningen. Her personal essay "In the Stars" won first prize in the Women's World, Women in War Zones essay writing competition. She has been published in Memories of Sun, The Nation, IS magazine, Poetry International and several other publications. She is one of the writers announced as part of the Africa39 project unveiled by Rainbow, Hay Festival and Bloomsbury Publishing at the London Book Fair 2014. It is a list of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40.
Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, and earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, Men Love Chocolates But They Don't Say (2002) and The Price of Memory: After the Tsunami (2006).
Doreen Baingana is a Ugandan writer. Her short story collection, Tropical Fish, won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region in 2006. Stories in it were finalists for the Caine Prize in 2004 and 2005. She was a Caine Prize finalist for the third time in 2021 and has received many other awards listed below.
FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers' Association, founded in 1995, is an NGO based in Kampala, Uganda, whose programmes focus on developing and publishing women writers in Uganda and—more recently—in the East African region. FEMRITE has likewise expanded its concerns to East African issues regarding the environment, literacy, education, health, women's rights and good governance.
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli is a Ugandan poet and literary scholar. She is an associate professor of literature at Makerere University. Kiguli has been an advocate for creative writing in Africa, including service as a founding member of FEMRITE, a judge for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and an advisory board member for the African Writers Trust. As a poet, Kiguli is best known for her 1998 collection The African Saga, as a scholar, and for her work on oral poetry and performance.
Ivan Matthias Mulumba is a Ugandan writer and valuation surveyor. He is the author of two collections of poems, Poetry in Motion and Rumblings of a tree, and a novel, The Honking. His work has appeared in The Kalahari Review, Reader's Cafe Africa, Africa Book Club, Munyori literary journal, Lawino-magazine, and Sooo Many Stories. He was nominated for the 2018 Young Achievers Awards.
Hilda Twongyeirwe is a Ugandan writer and editor. For ten years, she taught English language and literature in secondary school, before she retired to do development work in 2003. She is an editor, a published author of short stories and poetry, and a recipient of a National Medal of the government of Uganda in recognition of her contribution to women's Empowerment through Literary arts (2018). She is also a recipient of a Certificate of Recognition (2008) from the National Book Trust of Uganda for her children's book, Fina the Dancer. She is currently the coordinator of FEMRITE, an organization she participated in founding in 1995. She has edited fiction and creative nonfiction works, the most recent one being, No Time to Mourn (2020) by South Sudanese women. She has also edited others including; I Dare to Say: African Women Share Their Stories of Hope and Survival (2012) and Taboo? Voices of Women on Female Genital Mutilation (2013).
Beatrice Lamwaka is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize for her story "Butterfly Dreams".
Lillian Tindyebwa is a Ugandan writer living in Kampala. She is the author of numerous books, notably the novel Recipe for Disaster, published in 1994 as part of the Fountain youth series. She is a founding member of FEMRITE, and the founder of Uganda Faith Writers Association.
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a Ugandan-British novelist and short story writer. Her doctoral novel, The Kintu Saga, was shortlisted and won the Kwani? Manuscript Project in 2013. It was published by Kwani Trust in 2014 under the title Kintu. Her short story collection, Manchester Happened, was published in 2019. She was shortlisted for the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her story "Let's Tell This Story Properly", and emerged Regional Winner, Africa region. She was the Overall Winner of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She was longlisted for the 2014 Etisalat Prize for Literature. She is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. In 2018, she was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize in the fiction category. In 2021, her novel The First Woman won the Jhalak Prize.
Ife Piankhi is a Uganda-born poet, singer, creative facilitator and educator. She has collaborated with artists such as Keko, Nneka, Mamoud Guinea, Geoff Wilkinson, Michael Franti, Jonzi D, Wynton Marsalis, Floetry, among others. She has toured internationally for the past 30 years visiting Canada, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zanzibar, Zambia, Romania, Italy, Holland, and USA. While living in London she was a regular on Colourful Radio, founded by Henry Bonsu. She has been featured in the documentaries 500 years later by Owen Shahadah and Nubian Spirit by Louis Buckley which highlight her knowledge of Nile Valley Civilisations. Ife started her career at 18 teaching African pre-history in a supplementary school called Aimhotep School of Knowledge. Since then she has continued to work as a teacher and facilitator. She co-ordinated innovative projects such as Identity and Difference in Sutton and Linking Communities in Merton. Another creative project was Ancestral Gathering, managed with Aamasade Shepnekhi, which saw her working with communities to create sacred space in the natural environment. She is regularly seen at poetry and music events in Kampala, Uganda. For five years she sat on the board of Laba Street Art Festival, and has assisted in the development of initiatives such as Teen Slam Poetry Challenge, Poetry in Session and the Babashai Poetry Award.
Iga Zinunula is a Ugandan poet and Veterinary Assistant. He has engaged in rural development work all over Uganda since 1990. He is a member of the editorial board of FEMRITE. He has been a judge at the Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation.
Nakisanze Segawa is a Ugandan poet and storyteller. She is the author of the 2016 novel The Triangle. She took third place in the 2010 Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award for her poem "The hustler". She was a participant in the Ebedi International Residency in Iseyin, Nigeria, in January 2015.
Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation, formerly "The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award", is a poetry foundation that coordinates annual poetry competitions for African poets. It was started by Beverley Nambozo in 2008 as a prize for Ugandan women. But in 2014, it opened its doors to men and the entire Africa continent. The first Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award was held in 2009.
Jason Ntaro is a Ugandan poet, a member of The Lantern Meet of Poets. He is a regular on poetry platforms in and around Kampala. He has performed at National Book Trust (NABOTU), BAYIMBA, Poetry in Session, Kwivuga, open mic, Azania (UCU), Mirrors, Phat fest, Guest performed with Tshila, Spoken word Rwanda, and Maurice Kiirya experience, in Uganda and beyond. He developed a following in 2011 after continually reciting his poem titled "3 years, 2 months, 5 days", a poem about an abusive relationship that results in death. The poet's performance involved removing his shoes and walking barefoot onto stage, after which he would take a deep breath.
Nyana Kakoma is a Ugandan writer, editor, blogger, and publisher from Kampala. She created the online platform Sooo Many Stories that promotes Ugandan literature. She formerly wrote under her maiden name Hellen Nyana. She is one of the facilitators of Writivism in Kampala 2015. She took part in "Bremen & Kampala – Spaces of Transcultural Writing", a collaboration between writers from Uganda and Bremen. She is a member of Femrite. In February 2015, she was awarded an editorial fellowship at Modjaji Books by the African Writers Trust and Commonwealth Writers. A number of her articles have appeared in newspapers. She attended the Caine Prize workshop 2013, and her story "Chief Mourner" was published in the Caine Prize anthology A Memory This Size and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2013.
Rose Rwakasisi is a Ugandan author, editor, short story writer, curriculum developer and educator. She was the deputy head teacher of Old Kampala Secondary school, Nakasero secondary school and Kyamate Secondary School in Ntungamo. She is the director of St. Luke secondary schools and a teacher of Biology.
Lillian Aujo is a Ugandan author. In 2009, she was the winner of the Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation's inaugural BN poetry prize. In 2015, she was longlisted for, and won the Inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature for her story "Where pumpkin leaves dwell".
Ber Anena born and previously published as Harriet Anena is a Ugandan writer and performer, whose writing includes poetry, nonfiction and fiction. She is the author of a collection of poems, A Nation In Labour, published in 2015, won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. The Economist described her poetry performance as "an arresting evocation of love and war".
Sophie Alal is a Ugandan writer, lawyer, poet, journalist and cultural critic. She publishes at Deyu African, a cultural heritage initiative. She won the 2010 Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award with Making Modern Love. Her short stories have been published in the Kalahari Review, Lawino Magazine, AfricanColours and START journal. She has worked as a freelance correspondent for The EastAfrican, African Colours magazine and the Global Press Institute. She holds a law degree from Makerere University.
