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The second edition of Kampala Writes LitFest ran from August 15–17, 2025 at Makerere University’s Yusuf Lule Auditorium, bringing together local, diaspora, emerging, and established writers under the theme of Belonging — exploring what it meant to find home, maintain cultural identity, and connect through storytelling in a rapidly changing world. Headlined by celebrated Ugandan-British author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, the festival featured panel discussions, Writers-in-Conversation sessions, genre-specific masterclasses, book launches and signings, a children and young adults session, and a mini-book fair, all brought to life through stage plays, film screenings, and book readings and performances.
The conversations examined the unique power of stories to connect people to places, and delve into what it means and takes to belong to a culture, a community, an idea, in today’s rapidly changing world.
Led by: Aganza Kisaka (Yenze Theatre Conservatoire)
Yenze Theatre Conservatoire is a leading drama school and
production company based in Kampala. Facilitated by Aganza Kisaka, team leader and visionary founder of YTC, the workshop will focus on pacing, rhythm, and creating memorable characters. The training is intended for emerging writers, who are keen to build a career in scriptwriting.
Interrogations of Belonging: Perspectives from Makerere
Panellists: Prof. Dominic Dipio, Dr. Susan Kiguli, Prof. Patrick Mangeni, Dr. Charles Mulekwa.
Moderator: Dr. Cindy Evelyn Magara.
This panel will discuss Makerere’s creative luminaries to recover significant representational perspectives on issues of identity and belonging. The discussion will foreground significant voices across generations of Ugandan writers on questions of the nuanced and fluid concept of authenticity.
Performed by: Nii Ayikwei Parkes
Nii Ayikwei Parkes is a British-Ghanian performance poet
who has performed on major stages across the world.
He is the winner of multiple international awards, and has
won acclaim as a novelist, broadcaster and children’s
author.
Delivered by: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is an acclaimed Ugandan fiction writer of two novels: The First Woman (2020) and Kintu (2014). Her short story collection, Manchester Happened was published in 2019. She is a recipient of the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize 2018, and won the Global Commonwealth Short story prize 2014.
She has a PhD from Lancaster University and has taught in several universities in Britain.
Iryn Tushabe, author of Everything Is Fine Here, in conversation with Yvonne Zaabu
Moderator: Yvonne Zaabu
Eighteen-year-old Aine Kamara has been anticipating a reunion with her older sister, Mbabazi, for months.
But when Mbabazi shows up with an unexpected guest, Aine must confront an old fear: Her beloved sister is gay in a country with tight anti-homosexuality laws. Everything Is Fine Here is a dazzling debut novel.
Finding Your Voice
Led by: Nick Makoha
Led by experienced Ugandan poet Dr Nick Makoha, this transformative poetry workshop is designed to help writers discover their authentic voices through personal experiences and language choices. Participants will be empowered to write with a distinct voice, and to deepen their understanding of the poetry craft.
Funding for the Arts in Times of Shifting Priorities: Who Gets Left Out?
Panellists: Elizabeth Mbabazi, Faisal Kiwewa, Charles Batambuze
Moderator: Dr. Anna Adima
Art has the power to create meaningful change, foster a more inclusive society, and influence perspectives. But for this to happen, artists need to be supported through funding, so as to sustain their creative processes.
Panellists will discuss Arts potential to create a sense of belonging among different categories of people, examine the impact of shifting patterns in funding for the Arts, and explore alternative funding models available to artists in the global south.
Promises by Goretti Kyomuhendo (Catalyst Press, 2025)
The New Carthaginians by Nick Makoha (Penguin, 2025)
Moderator: Nii Ayikwei Parkes
A beautifully, imagined love story about Ajuna and her
fiancé, Kagaba caught up in financial hardship in their native
Uganda, and what happens in-between when Kagaba
decides to leave for the UK as an economic immigrant.
Promises humanises the migrant experience, and arrives at
a time when immigration remains a contentious, universal dilemma.
Goretti Kyomuhendo’s novel exposes the murky world of
illegal immigrants, and the creativity with which people in
the legal margins rise to fight an inhumane system.
Populated with an expansive array of vibrant characters, the
story examines the promises we keep and those we break
when relationships are profoundly tested by circumstances
and twists of fate.
Innovative Publishing Strategies and New Models in Africa
Speakers: Mercy Kirui, Anwuli Ojogwu, Cynthia Kinyera, Kenneth Muhangi
Moderator: Rasheeda Nalumoso (British Council)
In the past decade, the African writing and publishing landscape has undergone a vibrant transformation,
driven by creative and innovative models, which aim to address traditional barriers that affect book
publishing and distribution in Africa. The roundtable will bring together key players in the book sector to
discuss what these innovative models mean for the future of African publishing.
Creative Writing Tips for Secondary School Students
Tutor: Julius Ocwinyo, author of Footprints of the Outsider
Participants will be drawn from three secondary schools in
and around Kampala. Each school will be asked to select
ten literature students. The workshop will be taught by a
tutor, whose books are taught as literature set books in
secondary schools. Each participant will receive a copy of
The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and will
be required to read it ahead of the training.
The Role of Book Clubs in Building a Thriving Literary Community
Panellists: Daphine Kakooza Nampijja, Jonathan Kimara, Sheila Lubangakene
Moderator: Wendy Njoroge – Soma Nami Books, Nairobi, Kenya
Seeking Home Elsewhere: Navigating Literary and Personal Spaces Abroad
Panellists: Iryn Tushabe, Nick Makoha, Loic Ekinga, Dr. Mohammed Kibirige
Moderator: Jackie Asiimwe, author of Facing Mountains
Increasingly, many African writers live and work outside the continent. But what challenges do they
encounter, among them, inhabiting unfamiliar spaces, finding acceptance, and building a new ‘home’ away
from home? This panel will explore how writers in the diaspora grapple with notions of home, belonging, and
identity, away from their countries of origin.
A celebration of literature in and from Africa
Kampala Writes LitFest unites writers & readers to celebrate storytelling & inspire dialogue.
Kampala Writes LitFest unites writers & readers to celebrate storytelling & inspire dialogue.
