Ent. & Lifestyle
Creative writing in times of AI – Day three of Kampala writes LitFest
That panel was one of eight events that marked the final day of the festival, which started on Friday at the National Theatre. First up was a BookTalk, ‘Imagination in Poetry’, featuring Jane Okot P’Bitek Langoya and Michelle Ivy Alwedo, moderated by Irene Mutuzo.
Kenyan writer Betty Kilonzo listens attentively to Ugandan AI developer Felix Kitaka during Day Three of the Kampala Writes LitFest at the National Theatre on Sunday. (Photo by Kalungi Kabuye)
By: Kalungi Kabuye, Journalist @New Vision
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Will artificial intelligence replace writers? Is it just a tool writers can use to improve their craft? Or is it a clear and present danger? Should everybody jump on the AI bandwagon or risk being left behind? These were the questions that flew fast and furious on Sunday afternoon as the 2026 edition of the Kampala Writes LitFest drew to a close.
Felix Kitaka (who has built a Luganda AI), Bernard Nakireza (he who uses an AI he named Winnie to run the Barefoot Law organisation), and Kenyan writer Betty Kilonzo were on a panel ably moderated by Edna Ninsiima.
While Kilonzo maintained that human beings are the ‘original’ and will stay that way, Kitaka insisted that AI is here to stay, telling a shocked audience that when he has an argument with his wife, they refer it to ChatGPT to resolve.
That panel was one of eight events that marked the final day of the festival, which started on Friday at the National Theatre. First up was a BookTalk, ‘Imagination in Poetry’, featuring Jane Okot P’Bitek Langoya and Michelle Ivy Alwedo, moderated by Irene Mutuzo.
That panel was one of eight events that marked the final day of the festival, which started on Friday at the National Theatre. First up was a BookTalk, ‘Imagination in Poetry’, featuring Jane Okot P’Bitek Langoya and Michelle Ivy Alwedo, moderated by Irene Mutuzo.
There was also a session on ‘Children, Stories & Imagination’, with Murungi Esther Mugisa, Alinaitwe Orianah and Damalie Kisakye as panellists, moderated by Penelope Nankunda. A workshop on creative writing was facilitated by German-Cameroonian author Mirrianne Mahn, before another BookTalk featuring Dr Florence Baingana and Maureen Andinda, moderated by David Kangye.
Decolonisation was a running discussion throughout the festival, and it came to a head in a roundtable, ‘Decoloniality and The Stories That Make Us’, with Wanjiru Koinange and Yusuf Serunkuma as panellists and Bernard Tabaire as moderator.
The final discussion was ‘Who Defines African Stories? Writers, Publishers, Media, or Markets?’, with Philisiwe Twijnstra, Bazil Onen and Lena Mirembe as panellists, moderated by Goretti Kyomuhendo.
Spoken word performances capped the night and the three-day festival, with Sheila Akwany of the German Cultural Society Kampala (Goethe-Zentrum Kampala), which organised the festival, promising to return next year for the fourth edition.
Decolonisation was a running discussion throughout the festival, and it came to a head in a roundtable, ‘Decoloniality and The Stories That Make Us’, with Wanjiru Koinange and Yusuf Serunkuma as panellists and Bernard Tabaire as moderator.
The final discussion was ‘Who Defines African Stories? Writers, Publishers, Media, or Markets?’, with Philisiwe Twijnstra, Bazil Onen and Lena Mirembe as panellists, moderated by Goretti Kyomuhendo.
Spoken word performances capped the night and the three-day festival, with Sheila Akwany of the German Cultural Society Kampala (Goethe-Zentrum Kampala), which organised the festival, promising to return next year for the fourth edition.