Nii Ayikwei Parkes, born in the United Kingdom to parents from Ghana, where he was raised, is a performance poet, writer, publisher and sociocultural commentator. He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa who in April 2014 were named as part of the Hay Festival's prestigious Africa39 project. He writes for children under the name K.P. Kojo.
Kwani? is a prominent African literary magazine headquartered in Kenya. It has been hailed as "undoubtedly the most influential journal to have emerged from sub-Saharan Africa".
Chika Nina Unigwe is a Nigerian-born Igbo author who writes in English and Dutch. In April 2014, she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. Previously based in Belgium, she now lives in the United States.
Helon Habila Ngalabak is a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, including the Caine Prize in 2001. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was a Chevening Scholar at the University of East Anglia, and now teaches creative writing at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
Mary Watson is a South African author. In 2006 she won the Caine Prize for African Writing and in 2014 was named on the Africa39 list of writers from sub-Saharan Africa aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.
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).
Glaydah Namukasa is a Ugandan writer and midwife. She is the author of two novels, Voice of a Dream and Deadly Ambition. She is a member of FEMRITE, the Ugandan Women Writer's Association, and is currently (2014) its Chairperson. She is one of the 39 African 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.
Mary Busingye Karoro Okurut, more commonly known as Mary Karoro Okurut, is a Ugandan educator, author and politician. She is the former Cabinet Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, in the Ugandan Cabinet. She was appointed to that position on 6 June 2016. Prior to that, from 1 March 2015 until 6 June 2016, she served as Cabinet Minister for National Security. She was appointed to that position on 1 March 2015, replacing Wilson Muruli Mukasa, who was appointed Minister of Gender and Social Issues. Between 2012 and 2015, she served as the Minister of Gender and Social Issues in the Cabinet of Uganda. She was appointed to that position in 2012. She replaced Syda Bumba, who resigned from Cabinet. Mary Karoro Okurut also serves as the elected Member of Parliament for Bushenyi District Women's Constituency. In the 2020 National resistance movement NRM party flag bearer elections, Karooro lost to Annet Katusiime Mugisha who was elected Bushenyi district woman member of parliament in the 2021 Uganda presidential and parliamentary elections.
Ayeta Anne Wangusa is a Ugandan writer and activist. A founding member (1995) of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association, Wangusa first achieved broader recognition in literary circles for her novel Memoirs of a Mother (1998). She was also a founding member (2009) of the African Writers Trust, currently serving on the advisory board. She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.
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.
Goretti Kyomuhendo is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist. A participant at the inaugural International Literature Festival Berlin in 2001, Kyomuhendo has been internationally recognised for her novels such as Waiting: A Novel of Uganda's Hidden War. She was the first Programmes Coordinator for FEMRITE—Uganda Women Writers Association, from 1997 to 2007. She founded the African Writers Trust in 2009, after her relocation to London, Great Britain, in 2008.
Violet Barungi is a Ugandan writer and editor. She has edited several publications published by FEMRITE. Her published books include the novel Cassandra. She has worked as a book Production Officer at the East African Literature Bureau (1972–77), senior Book Production Officer at Uganda Literature Bureau (1978–94) and an editor at FEMRITE.
Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva is a Ugandan writer, poet, actress, literary activist, and biographer. She is the founder of the Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation formerly The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award for Ugandan women, which began in 2008 as a platform for promoting poetry. It has since grown to include all African poets and runs as an annual poetry award. In 2014, the award will extend to the entire continent, targeting both men and women. The same year, the foundation will also publish an anthology of poetry from poets of Africa. She is also the founder of the Babishai Niwe Women's Leadership Academy. Nambozo joined the Crossing Borders Scheme British Council Uganda in 2003 under the short stories genre. She was nominated for the August 2009 Arts Press Association (APA) Awards for revitalising poetry in Uganda after initiating the Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award, the first poetry award for Ugandan women.
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".
Jackee Budesta Batanda is a Ugandan journalist, writer and entrepreneur. She is a senior managing partner with Success Spark Brand Limited, a communications and educational company, and a co-founder of Mastermind Africa Group Limited, a business-networking group. In 2006, Batanda worked as a peace writer at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. She was later awarded a research fellowship at the highly competitive Justice in Africa fellowship Programme with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2008. In 2010, Batanda was International Writer-in-Residence at the Housing Authors and Literature Denmark, where she commenced work on her novel, A Lesson in Forgetting. In 2012, she was also featured in The Times alongside 19 young women shaping the future of Africa. That same year she was also a finalist in the 2012 Trust Women journalism Awards. She has been writer-in-residence at Lancaster University in the UK. She was selected by the International Women's Media Foundation as the 2011–12 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. During the fellowship, she studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies and other Boston-area universities, and worked at The New York Times and The Boston Globe.
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.
Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in the development of literature from Africa and the African diaspora. Launched in 2014, Africa39 followed the success of two previous Hay Festival initiatives linked to World Book Capital cities, Bogotá39 (2007) and Beirut39 (2009).
Okwiri Oduor is a Kenyan writer, who won the 2014 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, ‘My Father’s Head’. In April 2014 she was named on the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature, with her story "Rag Doll" being included in the subsequent anthology edited by Ellah Allfrey, Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara.
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".
