From Vanished Firesides to Global Stages: Uganda’s Poetry Renaissance

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When I returned to Mityana on my recent trip to Uganda, I searched for the poetic storytellers I had once known and seen as a child. Their animated way of sharing stories was exciting and captivating. They gathered under the night sky, weaving tales that carried the weight of ancestry and the rhythm of community. Simply dynamic!

This time, though, the circle was gone. The voices had fallen silent. The storytelling tradition, and the poems that once defined the village, had vanished, leaving me agonizing over the loss of a cultural heartbeat.

Poetry, to many scholars, is more than art. I refer to it as the language of the soul, a dialect of the intellect, a builder of bridges. Its death, like that of storytelling, signals the demise of culture . . . and of a people. As I often say, a society without verse is a society without a soul, a society without bridges.

Yet, in that silence, a new voice rises.

Recently, as if in answer to prayer, the Uganda Poetry Society reached out to me. I was selected as the honoree of the Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award — a US$ 1,000 annual prize now positioned as one of the most prestigious and highest‑paid poetry awards in East and Central Africa.

To me, the launch of the Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award 2026 is not just another prize. It is a turning point. More than a competition, it is a deliberate act of cultural preservation . . .  a bridge between Uganda’s fading oral traditions and the global literary stage.

I am humbled by this recognition. I am quick to add that this award is not about me . . . but about elevating Ugandan poets whose voices carry the power to heal, connect, and inspire. My hope is that it will serve as a platform for emerging talent to share their vision with the world. These are my words verbatim.

The inaugural cycle, set for 2026, invites submissions in both spoken word and written form under the theme Unity. It is a theme that resonates deeply: unity between past and present, between oral storytelling and written verse, between Uganda’s local voices and the global literary community.

For those who mourn the loss of the fireside storytellers of our rich heritage, this award offers hope. It ensures that while the circle may have dissolved, the spirit of storytelling endures . . . transformed into poetry that can travel beyond village boundaries, beyond national borders, onto the world stage.

For those interested, check out the official announcement here:

The Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award 2026 – The Uganda Poetry Society

Written by

Dr. Ivan Edwards

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