Doek, in partnership with Bank Windhoek, is proud to announce the second edition of the Doek Literary Festival, which will be hosted at the Goethe-Institut in Windhoek, Namibia, from 21 – 24 August, 2024.
The Doek Literary Festival is hosted every two years in Namibia. It celebrates the works of writers, poets, and visual artists who have contributed to Doek! Literary Magazine, and seeks to showcase the best of Namibian literature alongside works from the rest of Africa and the African diaspora. The festival is an integral part of Doek’s mission to nurture and grow the country’s reading and writing culture while providing a creative and immersive space for the works of Namibian and African writers, poets, and visual artists.
With Bank Windhoek as the the festival’s official sponsor, the 2024 Doek Literary Festival is a coming-of-age gathering which boasts an exciting roster of award-winning authors, poets, photographers, and musicians — festival attendants can look forward to panel discussions, creative writing workshops, and musical performances focusing on this year’s theme: “IndePENdence—freedom through reading and writing.”
The eclectic collection of writers, poets, and visual artists — from Namibia, Angola, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe — in the lineup will explore the delights, dangers, past dreams, present conditions, and future challenges of storytelling in the country, Africa, and the world with their published works as the backdrops for exciting enquiry.
“Thanks to Bank Windhoek’s ongoing support, the second edition of the Doek Literary Festival has been able to draw on literary talent from as far as Jamaica and the United States to bring local readers and writers in contact with storytellers of the highest calibre,” said Rémy Ngamije, Doek’s founder and chairperson and the current festival director. “It is an opportunity for readers and writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to learn from the very best in world literature. For lovers of photography, two of Namibia’s most promising photographers will also be exhibiting their works and talking about the way they approach their craft.”
Co-sponsored by the Windham Campbell Prizes, the Doek Literary Festival continues an ongoing thread of collaboration with international literary organisations that support Doek’s work to establish Namibia as a vibrant community of readers and writers and as a literary destination. In 2022, the inaugural festival was hosted in partnership with the University of East Anglia’s International Chair of Creative Writing.
“The planning, organisation, and hosting capacities needed to make this festival a success are almost immeasurable,” Ngamije said. “And, thus, I am delighted that Doek — through the support of its patron, the honourable Justice David Smuts, and the board of trustees — was able to secure a Namibian cast of festival partners to help make it a success.”
The Goethe-Institut Namibia — the venue and transport partner — will provide the venue for the festival and the transport means for daily excursions; Gondwana Collection Namibia — the accommodation partner — will provide the international writers with a truly comfortable Namibian welcome; Turipamwe — the design partner — will be responsible for creative an immersive festival experience; and the Book Den — the bookshop partner — will ensure all of the writers’ books are available for enjoyment.
Attendance to all events is free of charge and made possible by Bank Windhoek’s support as a connector of positive change.
A complete program of the festival’s events will be available online on Friday, 31 May, 2024.
The Guests
(Click on each name to access their complete biography online.)
Writers
- Roxane Bayer (Namibia)—2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award Winner for Fiction for “Letters To Chloe”
- Chiké Frankie Edozien (Nigeria)—award-winning author of The Lives of Great Men
- Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo (Namibia)—2021 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary award Winner for Fiction for “Silhouette”
- Ishion Hutchinson (Jamaica)—award-winning author of Far District, House of Lords and Commons, and School of Instructions
- Filemon Iiyambo (Namibia)—2021 and 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award shortlistee for “December” and “Their Mother’s Words”
- Femi Kayode (Nigeria)—award-winning author of Lightseekers and Gas Light
- Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia & USA)—award-winning author of Beneath The Lion’s Gaze and The Shadow King
- Nelson Mlambo (Zimbabwe)—Professor of African Literature at the University of Namibia
- Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (Zimbabwe)—award-winning author of The Theory of Flight, The History of Man, and The Quality of Mercy
- Troy Onyango (Kenya)—award-winning author of For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings and founding editor of Lolwe
- Ondjaki (Angola)—award-winning poet, filmmaker, publisher, and author of Transparent City
- David Smuts (Namibia)—Justice of the Supreme Court of Namibia and the author of Death, Detention, and Disappearance
- Mukoma Wa Ngūgī (Kenya)—award-winning author of Nairobi Heat and The Rise of the African Novel
- Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa)—award-winning author of The Madams, Men of the South, London Cape Town Joburg, and Love Kill Marry
Poets
- Charmaine //Gamxamus(Namibia)—2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award longlistee for “Misdirection”
- Veripuami Nandee Kangumine (Namibia)—2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award Winner for Poetry for “The Jackal Who Prepares You For Marriage and Other Poems”
Visual Artists
- Namafu Amutse (Namibia)—2021 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award Winner for Visual Art for “Chrysalis”
- Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa (Namibia)—2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award Winner for Visual Art for “The Gift”
Musicians
Links:
- Official festival website: https://festival.doek.africa/
- Pictures of the festival’s writers, poets, visual artists, and performing musicians: download here
- 2024 Doek Literary Festival event posters: download here