Durban – The Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has announced the Poetry Africa programme for its milestone 30th festival.
Taking place from 5 to 9 October 2026, the festival will be hosted at the Durban Playhouse Theatre and various other venues across the city.
This year’s festival is set to feature an exciting array of stage performances, poetry slams, industry panels, workshops, and a schools programme, highlighted by the 5th World Poetry Slam Championship, bringing together 40 slam poets from 40 countries across five continents in Durban.
This edition aligns with several significant anniversaries: 50 years since the Soweto Youth Uprising of 1976, 30 years since the inaugural meeting of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and three decades since the adoption of the 1996 Constitution, including the crucial Section 16, which guarantees freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
“The events of 1976, 1996, and the TRC signify a continuous conversation regarding who holds the right to speak and be heard within our society,” remarked Ismail Mahomed, Director of the Centre for Creative Arts.
“Poetry Africa exists to sustain that conversation, as affirming freedom of expression is a commitment we renew every time a poet takes the stage.”
Curator Siphindile Hlongwa noted, “Each of these anniversaries resonates with a voice: whether it reflects a generation, a nation, or the unique expression of an individual poet.
“This year’s theme, ‘Every Word a Street, Every Voice a City’, invites us to reflect on what we create when those voices are finally articulated.”
The festival will commence at the Playhouse Drama Theatre with a programme led by South African poet Lebo Mashile, featuring a keynote speech from 2026 Featured Poet Koleka Putuma and performances by Ana More (Ukraine), Haroun Amri (Algeria), Nanda (Gabon), Steel the Poet (South Africa), the esteemed Dr. Gcina Mhlophe, and renowned Jamaican-Canadian dub poet and playwright D’bi Young Anitafrika, a three-time Dora Award winner known for her Sankofa Trilogy and for establishing Toronto’s Watah Theatre.
That evening, the Chalkboard Slam Competition will take place, which is part of Poetry Africa’s spoken-word initiative targeting high school students.
The Poetry Africa National Slam Jam will host its semi-finals and final showdown on Tuesday, 6 October.
The World Poetry Slam Championship will proceed with its quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals from Wednesday, 7 October, to Friday, 9 October.
In addition to the performances, the festival’s industry programme will include panel discussions and workshops that reflect on 30 years of the festival, examining sustainability in poetic practices, artist mobility, contractual rights, queer poetics, professional branding, and the role of technology in poetry. There will also be a book launch for Thando Fuze’s Fluent in the Language of Burial.
The closing day will feature a staged adaptation of Water, inspired by Koleka Putuma’s acclaimed 2016 poem of the same name, which received the PEN South Africa student writing prize and is widely incorporated in curricula for its examination of access to water as a political and racial issue.
The presentation of Poetry Africa builds upon this work, exploring themes of ownership, community, ecological and climate justice, as well as the trade routes, ports, and nightlife economies that influence belonging.
For the full programme, please check out poetryafrica.ukzn.ac.za. Tickets can be purchased on Webtickets.
About Poetry Africa
Poetry Africa is an annual international poetry festival organized and hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban.
Since its launch in 1997, the festival has brought together spoken-word artists and published poets from South Africa and beyond for a diverse array of performances, panel discussions, campus and school visits, poetry exchanges, book launches, open mic sessions, and slam competitions.
Over the past 30 years, Poetry Africa has established a vital platform for poets and audiences to reflect on the societal impact of poetry and its link to social change, while also promoting academic work in contemporary poetry at UKZN.
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