Writivism Literary Initiative relaunches Poetry in translation prize

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Writivism Literary Initiative announced the relaunch and return of the Poetry in Translation Prize to mark ten years of existence.

The Writivism Literary Initiative is a Pan-African program that awards emerging writing.

Last week marked ten years since the first literary festival was held in Kampala from August 16 -18, 2013.

The program, hosted by the Center for African Cultural Excellence (CACE) nonprofit, will relaunch three prizes to mark the tenth anniversary.

The new awards’ categories are short fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry in translation. Winners of each category will take home $1000 (USD) while shortlisted writers will each walk away with $50(USD).

Writivism At 10 programming has pared down its previous bouquet of activities that included online mentoring, a literary festival, outreach events, and a podcast.

Commenting on the initiative, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire, one of three co-founders of the Center for African Cultural Excellence, noted that after Writivism’s three-year hiatus that started after their festival held in Kampala in August 2019, they are transferring their work to an exclusively digital plane and expanding eligibility for the prizes to include the African diaspora.

” This can be partly explained by direct personal experience of the increasing insecurity in Uganda that makes it difficult to guarantee the safety of staff and everyone involved in our activities. It is not a boycott of the country because nobody can boycott home, but an acceptance of the inability to sustain our work in the current environment.” Mwesigire said.

The new prizes and other related activities will be administered by Tramaine Suubi, in the role of managing editor.