The Pan-African Writers Association has announced the first phase of longlisted poems for the PAWA Poetry Competition 2026.
A total of 293 poets from 20 nations submitted entries to the competition. Through its Young African Writers Committee, PAWA will publish the longlisted poems across two anthologies. The poems selected for Anthology 1 are:
- Analgesic Situations by Lucas Gomes (Angola)
- Hosana but Damn by Phodiso Modirwa (Botswana)
- Our Mystery by Wofar Nadine (Nkeina) (Cameroon)
- A Silent African Psalm by Goska Matala (DRC)
- Bamboo Poet by Ibrahim Yassin (Egypt)
- Verdades by Oscar A. Nchaso Bekari (Equatorial Guinea)
- You’ll Say I’m Cuckoo by Nisah Ngomane (Eswatini)
- The Legal Cartels by Demba J. Sabally (The Gambia)
- The Devil’s Hurt by Abubakarr Gillen (The Gambia)
- The Mask by Yunusah Sajida (Ghana)
- Black Hearts by Esther Wiredu (Ghana)
- Pruning by Isaac Kilibwa (Kenya)
- Your Coffee Smells Like Blood by Victoria Kerubo (Kenya)
- Mkanabasa by Paul Phillip Shagant (Malawi)
- Just So We Survive by Gracious Mulinga (Malawi)
- África, A Virgem Que Todos Querem by Dionisio Conjo (Mozambique)
- Who Will Punish the Law by Chukwuemeka Chiamaka (Nigeria)
- Colours by Joel Ikechukwu (Nigeria)
- Kgomo by Bafana “Solorider” Nkuna (South Africa)
- Tshepe, Ga Ke Thatha Pelo by Gladness Johnson (South Africa)
- Suturing the Sun’s Sores by Marial Awendit (South Sudan)
- Bird of Prey by Samson W. Kibale (Tanzania)
- Mshumaa Unaoteketea by Grace Simit (Tanzania)
- La Chute by Daniel Akinboye Majoyeogbe (Togo)
- Ancestral Stars by Omadang Yowasi (Uganda)
- Sunshine Yellow Burning Red by Kihembo Shammah Ruth (Uganda)
- The Grinding Stone by Otis Joshua Mwape (Zambia)
- False Survival by Florence Nyangulu (Zambia)
- Where You Spin by Vimbai Chiza (Zimbabwe)
- Puppet by Mimi Machakaire (Zimbabwe)
PAWA described the selected works as poems that “exhibit mastery of poetic techniques, clarity of ideas, emotional depth, quality, and authenticity.”
The longlisted poems for Anthology 2 will be revealed in October 2026.
Congratulations to the longlisted poets of the PAWA Poetry Competition!
