Ent. & Lifestyle
Celebrating stories, ideas, voices as Kampala writes LitFest returns
This year’s theme, ‘Where Stories Begin: The Imaginary and the Art of Possibility’, focuses on how ideas are born, how fiction and fact blur, and how African writers are imagining new futures through their work.
A panel discussion during the 2025 Kampala Writes LitFest held at Makerere University. (Photo by Kalungi Kabuye)
By: Kalungi Kabuye, Journalist @New Vision
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Books, poetry and heated panel debates will take over Kampala again next weekend as the Kampala Literature Festival returns for another three-day run, from August 28 to 30.
Dubbed the Kampala Writes LitFest, this year’s edition will have more Ugandan voices and more regional authors and thinkers to expand the boundaries of storytelling, according to organisers.
“Storytelling has always been at the heart of who we are as Ugandans,” the festival curator and author, Goretti Kyomuhendo, said. “Many of us grew up surrounded by folktales, praise poetry, drama, song and dance as a form of entertainment and instruction. As storytellers, we continue to honour these long-standing traditions, but also boldly embrace new genres and modes of expression. This festival will celebrate all artists as the powerful narrators of our stories.”
Organised by Goethe-Zentrum Kampala in partnership with the African Writers Trust and curated by Kyomuhendo, this year’s festival will be held at the National Theatre in Kampala.
This year’s theme, ‘Where Stories Begin: The Imaginary and the Art of Possibility’, focuses on the creative process itself — how ideas are born, how fiction and fact blur, and how African writers are imagining new futures through their work.
Organised by Goethe-Zentrum Kampala in partnership with the African Writers Trust and curated by Kyomuhendo, this year’s festival will be held at the National Theatre in Kampala.
This year’s theme, ‘Where Stories Begin: The Imaginary and the Art of Possibility’, focuses on the creative process itself — how ideas are born, how fiction and fact blur, and how African writers are imagining new futures through their work.
“Every story has a beginning, but in Africa that beginning is often tied to oral tradition, to memory, to things that haven’t been written down yet,” a festival organiser said. “We want to ask what becomes possible when we treat imagination as serious work.”
Nigerian novelist and Professor of Creative Writing Chika Unigwe will be the keynote speaker, and other leading writers from the continent and the diaspora, plus established and emerging talent across various art forms, will also be present.
The 2026 program will feature panel discussions on speculative fiction, writing in local languages, publishing in East Africa and the business of literature. Other discussions will include ‘Creativity in the Era of Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Re-imagining the Planet’, featuring Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusooka.
There will also be workshops and masterclasses, and books by Hadijjah Nabunya Sebunya and Ernest Bazanye will be launched.
Nigerian novelist and Professor of Creative Writing Chika Unigwe will be the keynote speaker, and other leading writers from the continent and the diaspora, plus established and emerging talent across various art forms, will also be present.
The 2026 program will feature panel discussions on speculative fiction, writing in local languages, publishing in East Africa and the business of literature. Other discussions will include ‘Creativity in the Era of Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Re-imagining the Planet’, featuring Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusooka.
There will also be workshops and masterclasses, and books by Hadijjah Nabunya Sebunya and Ernest Bazanye will be launched.