Ms. Agnes Titriku is a parliamentary development expert with seventeen years of experience in active engagement in the field of Parliamentary Democracy and Governance. She is the Programs Manager for the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) where she is involved in the design and implementation of various programs for several African Parliaments and parliaments outside the continent, with a focus on capacity building, institutional development, strategic planning, parliamentary oversight, gender and poverty reduction. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Policy Studies from the University of Ghana and is very passionate about the Arts and Literature.

Akorfa Dawson is a Ghanaian short-fiction writer whose work explores friendship, childhood, nostalgia and love. Her writing preserves everyday moments while offering readers connection and escapism. She participated in the University of Iowa International Writing Program with Nisi Shawl, where she refined her speculative craft. She blends sci-fi with Ghanaian narratives and Afro-feminist themes.

Her work has appeared in anthologies by the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing and Tampered Press, and her story A Time to Be Stubborn was a finalist in the Imagining Early Accra competition.

Akorfa co-leads NadèLI, building space for emerging Ghanaian creatives to thrive.

Akumbu Uche is a writer and storyteller from Nigeria. She is committed to preserving African oral storytelling traditions and infuses her performances with songs and physical theatre. Ín addition, her fiction and poetry have been published by Aké Review, Brittle Paper, Canthius, The Cincinnati Review, Engaging Borders Africa, Ibua Journal, Konya Shamsrumi, and The Wild Umbrella, among others. She was a finalist for the 2025 Evaristo Prize for African Poetry

Angela Wright is a writer, photographer, and communications professional from Canada. Her work has been published in Canadian, American, and Australian literary journals, including The Fiddlehead, Catapult, and The New Quarterly. Her work has also been featured in Canadian media outlets, including The Globe and Mail, CBC, and the Toronto Star. Angela writes book reviews on children’s and young adult literature for Quill & Quire, a Canadian publishing industry magazine.

Angela currently lives in Ghana undertaking research for two books: a historical fiction novel about the daughter of a king who goes on a trek from Northern Ghana to the coast to search for her lover who was kidnapped into the slave trade, and a collection of essays tracing the journeys and experiences of past and present Black writers from the diaspora who have moved to Ghana.

Angela has a bachelor’s in history and African and African American Studies from the University at Buffalo, a master’s in the history of race and slavery from The University of Iowa, and will receive a Master of Public Administration from Queen’s University later this year.

Ayaz Shah is a Danish-Pashtun writer and trained actor based in Copenhagen. He writes in Danish, yet his stories unfold within cultural landscapes far removed from Northern Europe. Having grown up bilingual, he is deeply aware of how language and culture are often intertwined. In his work, he plays with these connections, blending and reshaping them to create narratives that move between worlds and open up new imaginative spaces. His debut novel, La Victoria (Wadskjær Forlag, 2024), is steeped in the tradition of Latin American magical realism. Set in a small Venezuelan town, it explores themes of mental illness, toxic masculinity, and cultural denial, weaving reality and myth into a vivid portrait of a community on the edge. In a Danish literary context, La Victoria is groundbreaking as one of the first works by an author from an ethnic minority background that does not centre on the immigrant experience. Ayaz refuses to be defined by society’s expectations of what an ethnic minority writer “should” write about, instead asserting the freedom to tell any story he chooses. The novel was recently adapted for the stage at Literaturhaus in Copenhagen, where Ayaz also performed.

Alongside his literary work, Ayaz continues to work as an actor, drawing on his training from the Copenhagen Film and Theatre School. He has appeared in theatre productions and on television, bringing the same dedication to storytelling to the stage and screen. Committed to narratives that challenge stereotypes, confront social taboos, and illuminate overlooked perspectives, Ayaz believes in the power of art to open windows between cultures. Whether on the page or in performance, his work invites audiences into unfamiliar worlds while offering fresh ways to see their own.

Aziza is a multi-lingual UK and Ghanaian qualified corporate and commercial lawyer and development consultant with over 25 years of work experience. She studied Law at the University of Manchester and the Ghana School of Law. Aziza received a Masters in Law from University College London and a Diploma in Legal Practice from London Guildhall University. She has worked in Europe, the GCC and Africa for the International Law Firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose Fulbright for many years.

Aziza is currently Senior Counsel at Stafford Law in Ghana and advises clients on various corporate and commercial transactions. Aziza is on the board of various NGOs in West Africa, Central America and Europe. She is currently involved in running workshops and trainings for communities in underprivileged areas of Accra. She ran a Literacy project (Eduquemos a La Nina) initiated by the Ministry of Education in Guatemala for the Mayan Q’eqchi Indians for Proyecto Ak’tenamit, which is still in operation as well as a vocational training project for youths in the Niger Delta. Aziza completed a course in Script Writing/Screen Plays at London College of Communication and course in Film-Making at New York Film Academy. She has since worked on various scripts and documentaries internationally. She is part of the BBC Media Action Writers that write for the Development Radio Drama Series Nebor my Nebor that is widely broadcast and seeks through stories to reduce the instances of infant mortality. She co-founded the Saturday School Literacy, Numeracy and Mentoring Project in London in 1999 that now has various branches in the UK. After conducting extensive field trips and research, she wrote the first comprehensive report on the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in collaboration with the Partnership for Child Development and Imperial College London that was run in Kano and hopes to spread to other states and other countries in Africa. The project seeks to encourage states to provide one balanced meal a day to primary and secondary school students to encourage them to attend school.

Image Credit: Angela Tellier

Babs Gons is a Dutch writer, spoken word-performer and host.

For decades, she has been a driving force behind numerous poetry stage initiatives.

Gons made her debut in 2021 with her poetry collection and has since published several books and won several prices for her work. She has been presenting her work for years at festivals, in museums, debate centers, on radio and television, and has traveled with her work to South Africa, Sudan, Curaçao, Suriname, Hungary, and Brazil, among other places.

Gons is the Poet Laureate of the Netherlands from 2023 until 2025. The selection committee of the Poet Laureate praised Gons as 'one of the most appealing poets the Netherlands has right now, with a voice full of fire, burning and warm, both on stage and on paper. She is a poet who knows how to give passionate and committed words to what is going on in this day and age, in a society that she, full of conviction, connects with poetry.'

Boakye D. Alpha is a Ghanaian writer, filmmaker, creative entrepreneur, and a Global Voices Scholar at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where he is pursuing an MA in Creative Writing. He writes poetry, prose, screenplays, and creative nonfiction and has been published in GUAP Magazine, Lolwe, The Shallow Tales Review, among others. His short story was longlisted for the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

With a strong dedication to stories that matter, his work often explores issues of selfhood, gender-based violence, and the lived experiences of underrepresented voices. As a filmmaker, his projects have been broadcast on television networks and streaming platforms across Africa, with some earning recognition at film festivals and awards, including nominations at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA).

Alpha is also a recipient of the Tony Elumelu Storytellers Fund, the MultiChoice Talent Factory Scholarship for emerging African filmmakers, and the African Union’s MoveAfrica Grant.

In May 2025, he served as a juror for the European Association of Creative Writing Programmes’ 2025 Flash Fiction Contest. Alpha was also a member of the Editorial Board of UEA’s Creative Writing 2025 Anthology.

He is currently part of the Editorial team of the Shallow Tales Review as a proofreader. Alpha is the founder and director of Creatives Project Gh, an organisation committed to providing a platform where young creatives can access resources, support, and opportunities to develop their craft and build sustainable careers.

Profile of HRM King Bubaraye Dakolo Agada IV, Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, and Chairman, Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council.

His Royal Majesty Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, FANA, Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama kingdom, became a first-class traditional ruler in Bayelsa State, Nigeria in 2016 when the Ijaws of Ekpetiama Kingdom rose as one and anointed him as their paramount traditional head. He became Chairman, Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers on March 16, 2022. He is also the Chairman, Conference of Ijaw Traditional Rulers and Elders (CITRE).

In November 2023, he became a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). With critically acclaimed audacious book titles like The Riddle of the Oil Thief, Once a Soldier , The African Voice , Pirates of the Gulf, and The Kingfisher: An Intimate Portrait of Environmental Injustice in the Niger Delta. To his credit he now numbers among the greatest of Africa’s literary greats. King Dakolo stands out as a loud voice in the African continent on the subject of oil and gas exploitation and security and how Africa could overcome western imperialism.

Born two decades after the death of Marcus Mosiah Garvey in the decade of the wanton, reckless and ruthless assassination of Black Nationalists in Africa and in the Americas, that decade that saw African nations breaking free from colonialism, and stepping into neo-colonialism or imperialism; that decade which saw western powers’ reluctance to let go of the Africa they were milking dry, a continent suffused with diamond, gold, platinum, uranium, plutonium, and vast deposits of petroleum. It was a decade that witnessed the mindless plunder of beans, cocoa, coffee, and the open exploitation, rape and wastage of human life so long as it was African. Wasn’t that the decade to be born?

Although slave trade had been outlawed, the west herded us yet into another trap, a masked alternative means of governance meant to exploit Africa’s human and material resources in perpetuity. He was born during the beginning of that era. The era we are still grappling with.

It holds significance that he was born in 1965 in Otuabagi, the community where the first commercial-scale oil well was drilled in Nigeria.

Residing at his Nun Riverbank hometown of Gbarantoru, he also survived the great flood of 1969 as well as the deadly wave of fierce fighting that enveloped Ekpetiama Kingdom during the Nigerian civil war on account of the cut-throat contest to control the crude oil resource fields in the Niger Delta.

Shortly after the war in 1970, he lived with his father and siblings at the residential quarters of Nigeria’s pioneer petroleum refining company (NPRC) at Alesa Eleme in Rivers State where his father was then a brand-new post-civil war employee.

Oblivious of the danger posed by exposed oil pipelines, he – like other children – daily walked the four-kilometre-long distance to and from his Ibuluya-Dikibo State Primary School, Okrika, Rivers State, on those naked big oil pipelines. From the back of his school, he also watched sea-going massive oil tankers as they shipped petroleum from the refinery jetty near his school at the Okrika peninsular to the western world.

Aside from being exposed early to the messy realities of the oil industry in Nigeria, while they were still dripping fresh at Ogbia, he was equally exposed to the works of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr in his teens. The works and fate of early African nationalists, like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Ahmed Sekou Toure, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Walter Rodney, Frantz Fanon, Nelson Mandela, and Steve Beko, helped to reinforce his pan-Africanist disposition into rock solid concrete.

Living in the Ekpetiama community of Gbarantoru, virtually within a 500-metre radius of the Renaissance Consortium - operated onshore multi-billion-dollar Central Processing Facility/Field Logistic Base (CPF/FLB) that produces over 60,000 barrels of crude oil equivalent of gas daily, with an extremely tall projected gas flare which spews large volumes of poisonous gases into the atmosphere since 2008. He has been a witness to life as a nauseating noxious affair in Ekpetiama kingdom and the rest of Bayelsa State.

Amongst several educational accomplishments, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Chemical Engineering, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education, and a Master of Arts degree in Terrorism, International Crime, and Global Security. He is an alumnus of the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna, and the University of Port Harcourt, both in Nigeria, as well as Coventry University, England. He is a Director of the New York-based International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation, ICERM, and Chairman of its World Elders’ Forum. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators of Nigeria, and an awardee of the Institute of Peace, United States of America.

Prior to becoming Ibenanaowei, he served in the Nigerian military, taught at the University of Port Harcourt Demonstration Secondary School, UDSS, served in government offices as the pioneer Director of Ethics and Compliance in the Due Process and E-governance Bureau of Bayelsa State, and pioneer Technical Assistant to the first Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Abuja.

He is a passionate environmental and human rights activist. A founding member of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, and the Ogbia Study Group, OSG, an intellectual partner of the Ijaw struggle for resource control from the late 1990s. He is the founder of the Nun River Keepers Organisation, a community-based organisation whose objective is to protect one of the most historically significant rivers in the world – the Nun River and its environment. With great optimism, he advocates for a Nigeria free of oil and gas pollution, and manages its oil resources equitably.

He is married to Her Royal Majesty, Queen Timinipre Bubaraye Dakolo, Igirigi I of the Universe, nee Ogiriki, an exceptionally beautiful and loving Ijaw woman. They have two lovely children.

His Royal Majesty identifies as a proud black African with an enduring love for his family, his people, music, reading, writing, learning and teaching.

Cheryl S. Ntumy is a Ghanaian writer of speculative fiction, romance and YA. She is part of the Sauútiverse Collective, which created a shared universe for Afrocentric speculative fiction, and Petlo Literary Arts, a creative writing organisation in Botswana. She has published several novels, short stories and novellas in various genres, including speculative fiction and romance. Her Sauútiverse novella Songs for the Shadows was published in 2024 by Atthis Arts and her short story collection Black Friday and Other Stories from Africa was published in 2025 by Flame Tree Publishing.

Christa Kuljian is a Johannesburg-based writer who has focused on issues of social justice. She is the author of three books of narrative nonfiction – Sanctuary (Jacana 2013) is about poverty, migration, and the refugee crisis at Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg. Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins (Jacana 2016) was short listed for the Alan Paton Prize and the NIHSS prize for nonfiction. And Our Science, Ourselves: How Gender, Race and Social Movements Shaped the Study of Science (University of Massachusetts Press 2024) is about a network of feminist scientists in the Boston area in the US in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Christa grew up in the Boston area, and has lived in Johannesburg for over thirty years. From 1992-2003, Christa was the Director of the C. S. Mott Foundation’s South Africa office, which supported legal rights and paralegal organisations, women’s organisations, and the NGO sector. Currently, Christa is a Research Associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER) at Wits University. She was a Ruth First Fellow in 2010 and gave the Steve Biko Lecture on Bioethics in 2023. She has published in many publications including Botsotso, City Press, New Contrast, Social Dynamics, African Studies, the South African Journal of Science, The Times, the Mail and Guardian, Daily Maverick, the Johannesburg Review of Books and The Conversation Africa. In addition to her undergraduate degree in the History of Science from Harvard (1984), she holds a Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton (1989) and an MA in Writing from the University of the Witwatersrand (2007).

C. M. Govender is a British-South African writer based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Her work explores faith, identity and belonging with a particular focus on fantasy fiction. Her practice in informed by a broad engagement in culture and she has worked with Manchester International Festival, Bradford Literature Festival, and Yorkshire Festival of Story.

Crystal Tettey is a Malagasy-Ghanaian polyglot whose art often manifests in poetry, music, performance, advocacy, and activism.

She is currently a Consulting Editor for Tar Baby, a new literary and cultural journal published by the Toni Morrison Foundation.

Her podcast, CURATING DREAMS | A Creative's Podcast, documents conversations with leading artists and human rights advocates from Africa and the Black Diaspora.

Crystal currently runs a year-long wellness series—yello —that offers conversations and community, live soul-filled music, and wellness gifts that include free massages and free holistic foods. All events of this wellness series are free to attend.

Dr Demi Priscilla Letsa is a Ghanaian global health professional, author, and founder of Legacy 28 Press. With over 18 years of experience in health systems strengthening, program design, and strategic leadership, she has led multimillion-dollar USAID-funded initiatives in Ghana, the United States and Haiti focusing advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, improving access to quality care for women and adolescents, and shaping health systems that respond to the needs of vulnerable populations.

Over the past decade, Dr Demi has led and contributed to cutting edge research, national policy dialogues, and global health initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Dr Demi has worked with institutions such as the Population Council, Total Family Health Organization, USAID, GIZ, KOICA, UNFPA, the World Bank, to name a few, providing technical leadership, driving advocacy and mentoring the next generation of public health professionals. Her career spans pivotal leadership roles where she built and managed teams, advised national ministries of health, and advanced gender equity and sustainability across health programs.

A trained scientist, Demi holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of Ghana, a Masters degree in Global Health and Policy from Boston University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from the California State University, Sacramento.

She has held Visiting Scholar Faculty positions at Penn State University School of Medicine and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, both in the United States of America. Presently she is adjunct faculty at the University of Ghana School of Public Health and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene where she practicalizes principles of global health for Masters students.

In 2020, after a season of personal and professional transformation, Demi embraced her lifelong love of storytelling and began her creative writing journey. As we all know, her debut novel, The 28th February House —a sweeping historical fiction rooted in Ghana’s colonial legacy. She launched her imprint, Legacy 28 Press, to spotlight African stories that interrogate our identity, and the complexity of belonging.

Demi is a passionate advocate for equity and a gender-balanced Ghana. When she isn’t busy with all these amazing things, Dr Demi can be found reading, correcting someone’s English, drinking coffee or dreaming up lavish vacations she is yet to take.

Denoo Edinam Yawo is a Ghanaian poet and writer whose work delves into themes of the body, the politics of language, spirituality, and faith at the intersection of living. She is a 2025 Black Atlantic Residency Fellow, the 2024 Second Runner- Up and the 2025 First Runner-Up of the Adinkra Poetry Prize. She is also a recipient of the 2025 DUAPA Mentorship Program. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Kalahari Review, Akpata Magazine, Akowdee Magazine and others.

Dirk Skiba is a German photographer who has been focusing on international authors for more than ten years. He persistently attempts to explore and break through the boundaries of a primarily commercial genre, as his aim is to create valid and artistic portraits of authors. Unlike other author photographers, he undertakes extensive travels to meet authors in their familiar surroundings. Over the years, he has created around 1,700 portraits, which are made available to the public in one of the largest archives of authors portraits worldwide.

In his photo book “The poem and its double”, he presents one hundred German-speaking poets who accompany their photographs with their own literary self-portraits. This concept, contrasting the photographer's view from the outside with comments from the subjects themselves, was widely acclaimed. Following the publication of the photo book, six solo exhibitions were held in German-speaking countries.

In recent years, Skiba has begun to explore Africa. After photography trips to Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania, he is excited to discover the diverse literary voices of Ghana.

Edem Torkornoo is the Founder and Reader-in-Chief at Booksie, a pan-African education company on a mission to make African children's books easily accessible and to help children fall in love with reading. Booksie does this in three ways: an online children’s bookshop that curates African books for 0-18-year-olds, a literacy programme for 3-12 year-olds and page to stage theatre productions that families love.

Prior to Booksie, she served as a Communications Teaching Fellow at MEST-Africa where she taught and mentored aspiring software entrepreneurs communications for business and how to pitch. She was also on the Founding Team at the African Leadership University (ALU) in Mauritius and built the university’s digital media presence.

When she’s not reviewing lesson plans or new books for the bookshop, Edem loves to read African fiction, try out new eateries in Accra or watch a good crime drama.

Edwige Dro is a writer, literary translator (English and French) and literary curator from Côte d’Ivoire. Her fiction, articles, translations and creative nonfiction have been widely published in Africa, the United Kingdom and North America. As a curator, Edwige works at the intersections of literature, feminist literary productions and art.

Edwige has been jury member of prizes like the Caine Prize for African Writing, the PEN International Short Story Prize and on the advisory boards of organizations such as the PEN/HEIM Translation Fund, Culturescapes and the African Book Festival.

Edwige is a 2014 Africa39 laureate, a 2019 Miles Morland Fellow, and a 2021 Writing Fellow of the Iowa International Writing Program.

In 2020, she founded 1949: the library of women's writings from Africa and the black world focused on feminist and women-led decolonial practices, knowledge production and democratization, in Abidjan.

Efo Dela is a Computer Engineer with over a decade of experience working on Digital Inclusion in the International Development sector.

He's also an avid reader and sometimes poet and sometimes satirist.

Empi Baryeh is a Ghanaian author of sweet and sensual African, multicultural, and interracial romance and women's fiction. She was born in Liberia to Ghanaian parents and considers herself an honorary citizen of her country of birth. She spent the first thirteen years of her life living in various African countries, including Liberia, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Her interest in writing started around the age of thirteen after she stumbled upon a Young Adult story her sister had started and abandoned.

The story fascinated her so much that, when she discovered it was unfinished, she knew she had to complete it. Somehow, the rest of the story began to take shape in her mind. Although she never completed that story, it marked the beginning of her future writing career.

When she is not writing, she likes to spend time with her family, read, listen to music, and catch up on TV series. Her published novels include: Most Eligible Bachelor (2012, 2020), Chancing Faith (2012), Forest Girl (2018), His Inherited Princess (2018), Expecting Ty's Baby (2019), Unwrapping Hanie and The Illegitimate Prince (2021).

Empi has won several awards and recognition for her novels, including 1st prize in the Novel Category for The Illegitimate Prince in the 2023 Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) Literary Awards. In 2018, she won 3 rd prize in the same category with her book, Chancing Faith. She has also won the Ufere Awards Book of the Year for Most Eligible Bachelor and Expecting Ty's Baby.

Famia Nkansa is a writer and communications consultant whose work spans multiple genres. Her poetry collection Sabbatical was commissioned for the 2017 New Generation of African Poets Boxset, edited by Chris Abani and Kwame Dawes. Her non-fiction essays have been published in journals worldwide, including As-Us Journal, The Sonder Review, and the Writer’s Project of Ghana Anthology The Sea Has Drowned the Fish. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction International, the 5th FEMRITE anthology Nothing to See Here, and Payback and Other Stories: An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Short Stories. She is currently working on multiple projects, including a novel about African women, lizards, love and madness; and a narrative nonfiction book about a community of kayayei in Railways, an urban slum next to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

Francine Petrina Mamaa Kwarley Clerk (AJESO) is a Ghanaian screenwriter, playwright, and emerging film director whose work blends African folklore, grief, and womanhood into visually striking arthouse narratives. Based in Accra, she has written numerous plays staged by production houses such as Agape Arts Production and Konko Band, and produced two audio plays now streaming on Spotify. In 2021, her short film screenplay Mother’s Day was ranked among the top ten in the Ghana Film Foundation’s maiden screenwriting competition.

Currently pursuing an MPhil in African Studies at the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies, Ajeso draws inspiration from African oral traditions, Indian and Korean cinema, Japanese anime, and the music of Angélique Kidjo and Sona Jobarteh. "The Widow’s Dance", her directorial debut, continues her exploration of emotionally charged, culturally rooted stories. She cites Femi Osofisan, Peggy Oppong, and Girish Karnad as creative mentors, and aspires to one day lead Ghana to a historic win at the Oscars.

Frederick Emile Bondzie-Arthur is a Senior Software and Data Engineer at Fido, where he builds large-scale data systems, data applications and machine learning platforms that serve millions of users across Africa. With over half a decade of experience spanning fintech, e-commerce, and proptech, he has designed pipelines (batch, streaming and microbatch), backend applications, KYC & Scoring systems, orchestrated ML operations, and led engineering teams and projects to deliver products that expand access to finance and power digital growth.

Outside of engineering, Frederick serves as a Technology Liason. He focuses on onboarding, fostering team energy and culture and representing R&D in Ghana in global discussions. This combination of technical expertise and people leadership highlights his capacity to connect systems, teams, and ideas.

Beyond fintech, Emile also consults for Selar, one of Africa's leading creator-commerce platforms. There, he has built data pipelines, analytics systems, and insights dashboards that serve hundreds of thousands of merchants and affiliates—helping storytellers, writers, and digital entrepreneurs better understand their audiences and scale their creative businesses.

Emile is passionate about exploring the evolving relationship between technology and society, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes how ideas are written, shared, discovered and implemented. He believes AI, when used thoughtfully, can be a powerful companion for all — unlocking new possibilities while keeping authenticity at the heart.

He is also a committed mentor, having guided aspiring engineers through Trestle Academy, FestMan Learning, and Data Science Buddy. He has spoken in communities such as GDG and IndabaX.

Dr. G. Edzordzi Agbozo is an Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His research contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate connections between science, technology, culture, and communication. His poems have been published in the Journal of the Writers Project of Ghana, Kalahari Review, Dunes Review, Oakland Review, and elsewhere, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2019.

Winner of Poetry Magazine’s J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize, Henneh Kyereh Kwaku was born in Gonasua and raised in Drobo in the Bono Region of Ghana. He has received fellowships from the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), Chapman University, and the Carolyn Moore Writing Residency. He is an interdisciplinary scholar with a Bachelor of Public Health (Disease Control), an MA in Health Education, an MFA in Creative Writing, and is pursuing a PhD with an emphasis in Health and Culture. His (public) health communication scholarship explores art-based approaches to addressing medical mistrust and vaccine hesitancy in Black populations. He’s the author of Revolution of the Scavengers (African Poetry Book Fund/Akashic Books, 2020) and the founder/host of the Church of Poetry. His poems/essays have appeared or are forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets’ A-Poem-A-Day, Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, World Literature Today, Air/Light Magazine, Tupelo Quarterly, Poetry Society of America, Lolwe, Agbowó, CGWS, Olongo Africa, 20:35 Africa & elsewhere. He shares memes on Twitter/Instagram at @kwaku_kyereh.

Hondred Percent (born Paul Forjoe Jnr) is a spoken word artist, rapper, and cultural curator from Ghana whose work bridges creativity, performance, and community empowerment. Known as The Poet Rapper, he first made his mark on Ghana’s creative scene in 2011, fusing poetry and rap into a unique form of hip hop expression that continues to shape his artistry today.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Jay Z (US), Worlasi (GH), Stogie T(ZA), Saul Williams (US), and even the iconic Mufasa (KE); Hondred Percent delivers performances that are rhythmic, thought-provoking, and engaging. His talent has earned him recognition on both national and international stages. He is a two-time overall winner of the Ehalakasa Slam (2014 & 2015), released his debut hip hop album WTF? in 2017, and published his first poetry collection Lorgorligi Locomotion: A Logologo Collection of Poems in 2021. Over the years, he has performed in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.

Beyond his work as a performer, Hondred Percent plays a vital role in Ghana’s poetry ecosystem. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Lorgorligi Locomotion, a cultural platform curating experiences in poetry and comedy. For the past two years, he has hosted Verse & Vibe, a monthly open mic at Kukun, Osu, and in 2025 he launched Sage Poetry, an initiative dedicated to curating Ghanaian poetry through live events and digital archiving. He also co-manages Ghana’s longest-running comedy club, Comedy Bar, alongside comedian James Brown.

A past President of the Poetry Association of Ghana, Hondred Percent designed and manages the association’s official website. Whether performing, facilitating, or curating, he continues to champion spaces that celebrate creativity and empower communities through the power of words.

Jacob A. Osae is an award-winning poet, screenwriter, and author writing in the genre of sci-fi and fantasy. His books include Oaks of Definition, A Walking Rainbow The Raven DNA: Origins and DNA: Alterhumans. Jacob is also also a science communicator and educator based in Accra, with a background in physics from the University of Ghana.

JayJay D. Segbefia, born in May 1982, is the author of Inviolable, Eat Not My Wife, and the Executive Hallucination series: Gods of War, Brains & Nerves, and Wheels of Justice. He is West Africa’s leading outdoor adventure operative. He runs a lacustrine, mountaineering and outdoor adventure guiding company in Ghana, his home country. He is a Mandela Washington Fellow of the US Government’s YALI Programme and an AGYLE Alumnus, the German government programme that seeks to strengthen African-German dialogue for cross-border economic cooperation.

JayJay trained as a journalist at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, now an Institute of the University of Media, Arts & Communication in Accra. He is an International Business scholar of the University of Ghana. When he isn’t running the jungle, he writes novels.

Image Credit: Mark Hilringhouse

Jeffery Renard Allen is the award-winning author of six books of fiction and poetry, including the celebrated novel Song of the Shank, which was a front-page review in both The New York Times Book Review and The San Francisco Chronicle. Allen’s other accolades include the Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prize for Fiction, The Chicago Public Library’s Twenty-First Century Award, the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, a grant from Creative Capital, a Whiting Writers'; Award, a Guggenheim fellowship, a NYFA grant, residencies at the Bellagio Center, Ucross, The Hermitage, VCCA, Monson Arts, and Jentel Arts, and fellowships at The Center for Scholars and Writers, the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He was a finalist for both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Allen is the founder and editor of Taint Taint Taint magazine and is the Africa Editor for The Evergreen Review. His latest books are the short story collection Fat Time and the memoir An Unspeakable Hope, the latter co-authored with Leon Ford. Allen is at work on several projects, including a memoir entitled Mother-Wit, a book of poems called No Borders, and the short story collection Try Me. Allen makes his home in Johannesburg and New York. Find out more about him at www.writerjefferyrenardallen.com.

Kobina Ankomah Graham is a lecturer, writer, cultural researcher, and DJ. A 2020 Miles Morland African Writing Scholar. He has been profiled by the likes of the BBC and Global Voices while his byline has featured in publications including The Guardian, Aperture, and The Africa Report.

His writing leans towards creative non-fiction, but he also explores the mundane through bizarre short stories in places like Litro Magazine and the Writers Project of Ghana anthology, The Sea Has Drowned the Fish. He was a finalist in the 2008 John La Rose Memorial Short Story Competition.

Kobina has an LL.B in Law and an MA in International Studies & Diplomacy, from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He is currently a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Ghana.

http://kobbygraham.com

Kristina Diprose is an emerging writer of short fiction, poetry and plays. She grew up on the Brontë’s favourite stretch of Yorkshire coast and now lives in Saltaire. Her shape-shifting writing explores ecological and mythological themes and our entanglement with the more-than-human world. Her work has appeared in Mslexia, Strix, and Northern Gravy. She won the Oxford Canal Festival poetry competition in 2024 and was a New Northern Poet with Ilkley Literature Festival in 2023. Her debut pamphlet, Thin Spells, published in September 2025 with Black Cat Poetry Press.

Larada Lee-Wallace is an Ohio-born and raised storyteller, writer, reproductive justice practitioner, and advocate committed to decentering white pathology in sexual and reproductive health narratives. As an abortion storyteller and abortion doula, Larada draws from her own multiple abortion experiences to write with honesty and clarity about navigating health care as a Black American and about the broader systems that shape reproductive freedom.

Her writing has appeared on NPR’s It’s Been a Minute and BBC News, and in publications including The Nation, Essence, Elle, Teen Vogue, Rewire News Group, and the UCLA Journal of Gender and Law. In her Essence essay, What My Grandmother’s Death Taught Me About Black Women and HIV Stigma, Larada reflects on her grandmother’s life to examine how racism, stigma, and medical neglect continue to shape Black women’s health outcomes. She is also the curator and editor of Bloom How We Choose: Black Self-Managed Abortion Stories, a printed storytelling collection centering Black voices and abortion autonomy. Across her body of work, Larada uplifts abortion stories too often erased or pathologized—particularly those about self-managed abortion—centering Black resilience, truth-telling, and autonomy.

In her day-to-day work, Larada supports young people and college-age students as they build power through storytelling, campaign design, and advocacy. She develops abortion-centered campaigns, teaches inclusive sex education practices, and creates trainings on self-managed abortion, equipping communities with the knowledge and resources to safely and confidently care for themselves and others. She also writes historically grounded analyses that connect reproductive justice struggles to the larger fight for Black liberation.

Grounded in the belief that storytelling is both a tool for cultural transformation and a practice of collective care, Larada envisions a future where communities most impacted by reproductive injustice define health care, healing, and freedom on their own terms.

Luke is a writer, broadcaster, historian and anthropologist specialising in Africa. He was born in Ghana and studied Archaeology & Anthropology at St Peter’s College, Oxford where he completed modules on ancient and medieval African history and African anthropology. He’s written for publications including BBC History Magazine and the Financial Times. He wrote and presented the documentary Africa: Written Out of History for History Hit and a podcast series on Mansa Musa for Sony’s This is History with Dan Jones. He was also a main expert contributor to the Netflix docudrama series African Queens: Njinga. He’s shared his expertise in various forums, including Hampton Court, The Rest is History podcast and the Chalke Valley History Festival. In January 2025, Weidenfeld & Nicolson published his debut book, Motherland: A Journey through 500,000 Years of African Culture and Identity.

Dr. Mamadou Abdou Babou Ngom is a Senegalese academic. He earned a doctoral dissertation back in May of 2012 on the fiction of the 2003 Nobel Prize in literature, to wit the South African novelist and essayist J.M.Coetzee. A high-school English teacher by training in a previous incarnation, Dr Ngom has authored a little less than thirty research articles published in such renowned international literary journals as the Canada-based Englisn Language and Literature Studies, the Hong-based Advances in Literary Study, the Sweden-based Cognizance Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, and Criterion: An International Journal in English. On top of that, Dr Ngom has written two novels in English, namely A Streak of Unfulfilled Expectations: Love, Politics, Betrayal (JustFiction Edition December 2018), and No Breathing Room for Rapists (The University of Ghana Printing Printing Press August 2024). Dr. Ngom's most important current research investigation project is an essay on the gender-oppression question in postcolonial African women's narratives, with five novels by Anglophone African novelists serving as primary sources. Dr Ngom was hired at the English Department of Cheikh Anta Diop University Dakar in 2016, and since then has been teaching there.

Michael Donkor studied English at Wadham College, University of Oxford and then undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. The Observer named him as one of the UK's best debut authors for his first novel Hold (4th Estate) and he has been longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel Grow Where They Fall was published by Penguin in 2024. He regularly reviews for the Guardian.

Modupe Daramola is a lawyer, asset manager, and writer. She is the founder of Noisy Streetss, a start-up dynamic publisher dedicated to publishing young African stories and promoting authentic storytelling. Modupe is also the founder of The Mule, an investment collective aimed at empowering women and increasing their participation in the Nigerian economy and the global financial landscape. Her expertise in finance is further underscored by her CFA Level 1 Certification. Her work explores the intersections of literature, finance, and society, with a focus on justice, storytelling, and financial empowerment. Her love for travel, exploration, and diverse cultures continually inspires her creative and professional endeavours. Her essay, "What is Your Story”: Writing Romance in African Words, has been published in Brittle Paper.

Mutombo Da Poet is a pioneer and one of the most influential voices in Ghana’s spoken word movement. Since launching his career in 2006, he has performed on renowned stages both in Ghana and internationally. In 2009, he won the inaugural Ehalakasa Poetry Slam and later became a resident poet at ‘Bless Da Mic’, further shaping the country’s spoken word culture. In 2012, he released his debut album, Photosentences, a landmark project in Ghana’s spoken word history. After a creative hiatus, Mutombo returned in 2025 with new work, reaffirming his enduring presence in the art form.

Beyond poetry, he is also an accomplished photographer, filmmaker, and beatmaker.

Dr. Nana Aba Kwenua Pobee is a medical doctor who appreciates both the clinical and non- clinical approaches to medicine and health, advocating for holistic well-being for all at all ages.

She is the Creative Producer and Festival Director of the Accra Arts and Health Festival (a satellite arts and health event in Accra, an international initiative of the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship to advance education, scientific research, and interdisciplinary practice of arts in health, creative art therapy, and community-based art engagements with focus on the Global South) and previously served as the Associate Festival Director of the Global South Arts and Health Week (GSAHW), Ghana Pavilion. She is also a Global Arts in Medicine Fellow and a member of its Council for Arts and Health.

Beyond her involvement in arts and health, she is a co-founder of Biology and STEM Skills (BioSTEMS), an NGO dedicated to bridging the gap between biology theory and practice in public second-cycle institutions in Ghana, equipping science students studying biology with the knowledge and skills for the evolving world of STEM.

Furthermore, she is a member of the Training and Development Team and the Brighter by a Book Project team of the Literacy Impact Programme — an organisation committed to empowering children in literacy, public speaking, critical thinking, and leadership through creative learning.

In addition to her medical practice, Dr. Pobee is an award-winning entrepreneur and a public speaker.

She serves in a number of organisations as a volunteer and a resource person.

Image Credit: Charles Lawson

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is the author of Seeking Sexual Freedom: African Rites, Rituals and Sankofa in the Bedroom which is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster, and Dialogue Books in March 2026.

Her debut, The Sex Lives of African Women, was described by Publishers Weekly as “an astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation” in their starred review. It was also listed by The Economist as the best book of the year.

Nana Darkoa is co-founder of Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, a website that publishes and creates content that tells stories of African women’s experiences around sex, sexualities, and pleasure. She is also a podcaster and co-curates an annual festival on sex.

In 2022, she was cited by the BBC in its list of 100 inspirational and influential women from around the world. In 2023, New Africa magazine listed her as one of 100 inspirational Africans.

Nana S. Achampong, author of One Stone, One Bride and a Zombie, was born in Cape Coast, Ghana. He is a lifelong media professional and educator who has practiced in Ghana, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has written over 30 books covering the different genres of poetry, play, for children, fiction, non-fiction, media, and anthology.

His most recent works of fiction are A Taste of the Serpent’s Kiss, The Mystery of the Treasure Keeper, and Nkyinkyim. Across these distinct yet thematically linked works, Achampong relentlessly probes the lingering challenges of post-independence Africa. He is an unflinching observer of the systemic corruption that permeates society, the often-disillusioning realities of governance, and the intricate dance between deep-rooted traditions and the encroaching forces of modernity. His narratives are a testament to the resilience of the human spirit amidst adversity, the unexpected wellsprings of connection, and the enduring quest for truth and justice.

He currently teaches at the African University of Communications and Business, Accra, where he is also the Director of the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing, and Head, Department of Creative Practice.

Olivia Hains is Media and Project Manager at Aeon Media, the publisher behind Aeon and Psyche magazines, and oversees the project management of the writing workshop series. Over the past seven years, she has worked across Aeon and Psyche magazines, writing articles, curating videos and growing their international audiences. She is also guest lecturer at UCL and King’s College London and writes for The Telegraph newspaper's Health column as a freelance journalist.

Pamm is a writer, reproductive justice advocate, facilitator, and community professional gatherer of people, ideas, and trouble (the good kind). She is passionate about women, agency, and pleasure, advocating for both through her work and writing.

Pamm firmly believes that prioritizing creativity and pleasure is essential for envisioning futures that foster both individual and community transformation. Her writing delves into themes of intimacy and personal desires, exploring their impact on social justice. Her essay on Reclaiming The Erotic for Personal Freedom & Power will be featured in the Cassava Republic Anthology Dancing with Jinns (2026). Pamm proudly identifies as a certified Romance Ninja—though she's still waiting for her black belt in love letters!

Pauline Jansen van Rensburg is a South African writer, lecturer, and workshop designer based in Munich, Germany.

Her fiction blends realism with elements of the fantastic to grapple with themes of resistance, exile, and transformation. She is currently working on a novel set in 1960s apartheid South Africa, which reimagines the Karoo desert as a phantasmagorical literary space: haunted by its socio-political legacies, animated by speculative mythologies, and shaped by the struggle for freedom and belonging.

Her academic path began in France, where she earned a BA in French Literature and an MA in Applied Foreign Languages / International Relations. After working as a translator and interprète de liaison, she founded a Munich-based corporate training company that built bridges across languages and cultures, establishing herself as an intercultural mediator.

Shifting from translating words to conjuring worlds, she completed an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University in the UK, where she brought her literary, linguistic, and intercultural background into dialogue with her creative practice.

For over a decade, Pauline has taught Rhetoric and Composition at the Technical University of Munich, launching the first creative writing courses in English and co-creating a STEM-themed short story competition that fuses science and storytelling, inviting students from around the world to experiment with speculative writing.

She believes creative writing should be a playground and a meeting place as much as it is a practice. Guided by this ethos, her teaching aims to open spaces for interdisciplinary inquiry, imaginative experimentation, and intercultural dialogue where writers can take risks, cross borders, and imagine other worlds.

At Pa Gya! 2025, she will lead Estranging the Ordinary: Speculative Technologies – Reprogramming the Social Machine, an interactive speculative fiction workshop blending theory, play, and creative practice, inviting participants to rewire the everyday and dream of new futures.

Peggy Kere Osman, writing under the pen name Selah, is a Ghanaian poet and author from Northern Ghana whose work explores the complexities of human relationships and emotions. Drawing from deep observation of the world around her, Peggy’s poetry offers a unique blend of cynicism and hope, delving into the coming-of-age experience with a keen sense of authenticity. Her collections, Portrait of a Blue Sun and Monarch Butterflies Over My Head reflect themes of love, grief, and growth, offering readers an introspective journey through life's most profound moments. Through relatable storytelling, Peggy invites readers to find solace in the rawness of her musings, making her a distinctive voice in contemporary Ghanaian poetry. She is currently a resident writer for a sci-fi Afrofuturism short story in the Wandering Imaginations project, a collaboration between Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 and Writers Project of Ghana.

Penboy is a talented spoken word poet from Cameroon, known for using his words to express his views on social and political issues, particularly the Anglophone crisis in his home country.

His real name is Taleabong Boris Alemnge and he started honing his skills as a spoken word poet in 2018 while studying law at the University of Buea. Penboy's poetry is not just about entertainment; he's also a voice for his generation, advocating for marginalized groups and promoting social change. He has written and performed for several events & institutions across Cameroon, released several digital poetry albums & singles, hosted several shows while acting as coordinator for the STAGE LIFE GROUP, an organization he cofounded with a vision to promote, foster & valorize oral literature in Africa. As a multi-award-winning poet, Penboy has received recognition for his work, including emerging winner of the World Bank Youth Act on Education Spoken Word Contest, Goethe Decouverte 2023, finalist and third-place winner of the National Artistic Competition hosted by the Conseil Nouveau Sommet Afrique France etc. Asides this, he is also a creativity coach, helping individuals and organizations nurture their artistic potential through trainings, workshops & private coaching.

Image Credit: Katlego Diseko

Dr Phillippa Yaa de Villiers lectures in Creative Writing at Wits University. She wrote Original Skin with Robert Colman, which explores her adoption and reunion with her Ghanaian biological father. Her poetry collections are Taller than buildings (2006), The everyday wife (2010) and ice- cream headache in my bone (2017). She co-edited The Poems of Keorapetse Kgositsile 1969-2018 for the African Poetry Book Fund (2023). Her fiction and poems appear in New Daughters of Africa (2019), Yellow Means Stay (2019), Relations (2023) among many others, including the journals Botsotso, Stanzas and New Coin. Her scholarly work has appeared in Our Words, Our Worlds: Writing on South African Poets (2019), Notes from the Body: Health, Illness, Trauma (2023), The Creative Arts: On Practice, Making and Meaning (2024), and Fragments d’un temps suspendu: 44 lettres d’ecrivains sur le confinement (2025).

Image Credit: Hemamset Angaza

Dr. Rachel Laryea is a thought leader who specializes in race and money, ethical entrepreneurship, and social good. After cutting her teeth on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs, she went on to receive her dual Ph.D. in African American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University. Her ethnographic research aims to understand nuanced forms of Black participation in capitalist economies. Dr. Rachel is the recipient of the National Science Foundation Research Fellowship award, and she received an honorable mention from the Ford Foundation for her research. She has held Adjunct Professor appointments at NYU Stern Business School, and worked as a racial equity investment strategist at JPMorganChase. Currently, she is an Asset Wealth Management researcher at JPMorganChase.

Dr. Rachel is the founder of Kelewele, a lifestyle brand based in Brooklyn, New York, that creates bespoke African travel experiences and vegan, plantain treats. Kelewele has partnered with The James Beard Foundation, Black Entertainment Television (BET), and has been featured in several global publications and media platforms including The New York Times, Forbes, MarketWatch, and CBS. She is the recipient of the Ghana UK-Based Achievement (GUBA) award.

Image Credit: Jan Rosseel

Raoul de Jong (1984) published eight books and wrote columns for multiple newspapers. His book Jaguarman, which was published in 2020, was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize, the European Union Prize for Literature, the Boekenbon Literature Prize, the Boon and the E. du Perron Prize. In 2022, he received the Anna Blaman Prize for his entire oeuvre. In 2023, Raoul de Jong wrote the Dutch National Bookweek Essay Boto Banja, which entered the bestseller lists at number 1. His work is translated in German, French and English.

SaCut Akaabitono Amenga-Etego also known in his circles as Commandante was born and raised in Kandiga Upper East Region of Ghana. He went to Notre Dame seminary secondary school in Navrongo before training as a journalist at the Ghana institute of journalism. He also studied narration at the United POP Academy in Amsterdam, NL and strategic communication at the International university of languages and media (IULM) in Milan, Italy.

As a natural leader born to the chief of Kandiga as heir apparent, he naturally got involved in political activism at an early stage with influences from former President Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana. He was general manager of XFM 95.1. an urban radio station Accra where he hosted the “new voices”, debating democracy in Ghana. As an adventurer, he ventured into traveling abroad to satisfy his curiousity. This travel adventure took him to over 25 countries and with temporary residences in Amsterdam and Milan before returning to Ghana where he delved back into investigative journalism. He has broken every chain life and people have tried to impose on him over time, especially those that could have undermined his freedom of expression. He has authored two books: PANAFEST in the Dungeons – An experience of natural mystic and his current book Unchained.

In Unchained the story of his life is imprinted, from the beginning as a royal up to the days of an unlawful arrest and detention, passing through a very long career as an activist in the Ghanaian political and media field, love affairs, the corona virus pandemic which locked him down in Europe, and a part of his life spent abroad. He has made his voice heard in every possible way, mainly thanks to an intelligent use of social media where he’s a conversation starter, and now through Unchained.

Sam Dresser is Deputy Editor of Aeon Magazine. With over 13 years of experience at the magazine, he has edited hundreds of essays, several of which have been developed into full length books.

Seanchoíche (pronounced “SHAN-nah-kee-huh”) is a storytelling event platform founded in Dublin by Ciaran Gaffney (aka Gaff). It brings together ordinary people who share personal anecdotes, fictional tales, diary entries, monologues, or spoken-word pieces in an intimate, empathetic atmosphere. Seanchoíche isn’t about polished performances—60% of its storytellers have no prior public-speaking or creative experience. Instead, it celebrates authenticity: heartfelt storytelling that can move audiences to laughter, tears, reflection, and connection. Attendees frequently describe the atmosphere as safe, life-affirming, and magical — even therapeutic. What started in Dublin now spans across the world — with events held in London, Amsterdam, Belfast, Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town, New York, and beyond. The platform continues to grow steadily.

If you are interested to speak at the upcoming event at Pa Gya festival, you can apply here: seanchoiche.com/tellyourstory.

Setor is a lover of languages who teaches and researches languages. He loves speaking Ewe to people around him. He believes Ewe is a heavenly language with stops and gutturals that pose serious “challenges” to learners. However, a mastery of these prepares people towards any language adventure.

Dr. Stephen Dziedzorm Dadugblor is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. He earned a PhD in English (concentration in Rhetoric) from The University of Texas at Austin. His research and teaching specialties are in cultural rhetorics and public deliberations about democracy. An avid reader of Ewe stories, Stephen is committed to the belief that there is immense value in using African languages to promote African epistemologies.

Tanya Zack is a South African urban planner and writer whose work has focused on urban regeneration, contemporary migration, informal work, urban policy and affordable housing. Her writing in Wake Up This Is Joburg (Duke University Press, 2022) has been lauded for being amongst the freshest and most original material on an African city. It was included in the longlist of the 2024 Sunday Times/Exclusive Books Literary Awards. Her curiosity and compulsion to collect stories have broadened the scope of her intrigue to personalities who inhabit the spaces not often exposed in literature about Johannesburg. The products of her professional practice in Johannesburg's inner city, including an inner-city transformation policy, and a study of cross border shopping, are recognised as ground-breaking interventions. She grew up in a working-class suburb on the edge of the inner-city.

Tessa Leuwsha, who lives and works in Suriname, South-America, writes fiction and non-fiction for various media and makes documentaries on Dutch colonial history. She connects the big history to an often deeply personal story. Her first novels De Parbo-blues - recently reprinted - and Solo received rave reviews and were nominated for several awards. Her literary family history Fansi's silence, about the life of her grandmother in colonial Suriname, is considered an iconic work within the genre and was also nominated for a literary award. From this book she drew inspiration for her documentary ‘Mother Suriname-Mama Sranan’, which received a Special Mention in the category Best Dutch Documentary at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA). The film screened internationally, was broadcasted on PBS USA, and won the Dutch Chrystal Award. For her latest book ‘Boni’, on Suriname’s 18th -century freedom fighter against Dutch colonial rule by the same name, Leuwsha traveled throughout Suriname, French-Guyana and Ghana to reconstruct his life, using oral history and myths. The book received raving reviews and is nominated in the Netherlands for the best political book 2025.

Ursula M. Abanga is a Ghanaian artist whose work explores the delicious intersections of feminism, sexuality, and community building. Her erotica revels in the textures of desire, tenderness, and rebellion, inviting readers to sit with pleasure as a radical act and center the sensual as a language for freedom and intimacy. Off the page, you can find her tending to her cat and plants, bingeing anime, and drinking entirely too much tea.

Yaw Atuobi (they) is a writer and an independent researcher whose work sits within the nexus of fiction, criticism and visual culture. A co-curator of littoral zone[s], 2025 writing fellow at A Public Space and the former critic-in-residence at the inaugural Black Atlantic Residency (2024) of the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), Yaw is committed to emphasising the generative and constitutive role of criticism in the production of both visual and literary culture within continental Africa and its diaspora. Their fiction, conversations, criticism, translation (into Akan) and other projects can be found or are forthcoming in A Public Space Magazine, PARSE Journal, Za! Magazine, Jalada Africa, AKO Caine Prize for African Writing Anthology, Reading Ecologies: Transforming Publishing in Africa, and elsewhere.

Yejide Kilanko was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. She writes novels, short fiction, poetry, and children’s picture books. Kilanko’s 2012 debut novel, Daughters Who Walk This Path, was longlisted for the Nigeria Literature Prize. Her short fiction, “This Tangible Thing”, was shortlisted for the 2023 Caine Prize. Her latest novel, In Our Own Ways, is scheduled for release in 2025. Kilanko lives in Canada, where she also practices as a social worker.

From high school teacher to homeschooling mom to cultural storyteller, Yowome Williams has been passionate about nurturing young minds through an African lens.

Her deep connection to her African heritage blossomed during childhood trips to Ghana’s Volta Region, and today, she shares that love of cultural immersion with her son—through travel, stories, and shared discovery across the African continent. Her desire is to carry along many more young ones on their adventures through immersive storytelling.

Easter Along the River is her debut novel, a joyous tribute to Ewe heritage — a richly woven tale featuring sibling adventures, rich traditions, personal growth, and historical resonance. Crafted for readers aged 8–16, the story invites them to journey through Ghana’s Volta Region, where sumptuous food, a festive river crossing, local customs, and familial bonds come to life in a beautifully grounded narrative.