Creative Writing at Wits University

12/05/2026

Applications are open for the Achmat Dangor Literary Prize 2026
The biennial Achmat Dangor Literary Prize supports a young, previously disadvantaged writer to pursue an MA in Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2027.
Established in honour of acclaimed South African writer, activist and cultural leader Achmat Dangor, the prize carries forward his commitment to literature, justice, memory, and the unfinished questions of South African life.
The prize is open to young writers working in poetry, fiction, scriptwriting, memoir or creative nonfiction, whose work engages South African experiences, voices, histories, futures and literary possibility. Thank you to the Achmat Dangor Legacy Project for the support.
Deadline: 15 September 2026
Submit applications to: [email protected]
Application details & criteria: https://www.wits.ac.za/creativewriting/achmat-dangor-literary-prize/
Achmat Dangor Legacy Project https://achmatdangor.co.za/
The recipient will be announced in October 2026, during a special ceremony celebrating Achmat Dangor’s birthday month.

05/05/2026

Writing Between Tongues: Translation as Creative Process

The Wits Italian Department, Translation Studies, and Creative Writing, in collaboration with the Wits Reading & Writing Centre, invite you to a lunchtime conversation with Raphael d'Abdon, in discussion with Alice Leal and Anita Virga, chaired by Phillippa Yaa De Villiers.

Together they will explore translation as writing, listening, re-making, and crossing between languages — drawing on Raphael d’Abdon’s work as a poet, editor, writer, and translator, including his Italian translation of Etienne van Heerden’s The Long Silence of Mario Salviati.

Monday 11 May
1 PM
Wits Reading & Writing Centre Wits Writing Centre
Wartenweiler Library, East Campus, Braamfontein

Free and open to all.

22/04/2026

Creative writing alumnus Riley Hlatshwayo is painting the town read this weekend.

Riotzine Launch
Riotzine is an independently published collection of work by South African writers and artists born after 1994. Centering around the theme of youth, this zine becomes a generational document with a range of current voices thinking about their lives.

In Riotzine Esinako Ndabeni has collected short stories, personal essays, poetry, and visual art from a diverse group of local creatives and is giving the reader a front row seat to a growing literary landscape.

The collection features a short story from beloved Bridge Books alum Riley Hlatshwayo who is another contributor to this rising literary landscape with their publication and zine LIMINAL (stylised as LMNL).

LIMINAL
LIMINAL (stylised as LMNL) is a zine and indie media platform founded by Riley Hlatshwayo.
By Riley Hlatshwayo
Some personal standout pieces from Riotzine are Don’t Tell My Mom: A short story by Riley Hlatshwayo, IKHOMPI Complexion: Photography by Khanya Zibaya, and Lois Flandorp’s essay Big Bek, Bigger Problems: My Rage Against Neoliberal South Africa.

Join us this Saturday for a discussion with contributing creatives, Riley Hlatshwayo, Kabelo Ntlaloe and Dylan Coleman.

Date: 25 April
Time: 11:00 for 11:30
Where: Bridge Books Barbican, 89 Helen Joseph Cnr Rissik
Please reserve your spot with an RSVP to [email protected].

Silent Reading Club

Read what you like, at your own pace while the city breathes around you.
Once a month we host our Silent Reading Club. Spend your Saturday afternoon with a book and drink while surrounded by other readers.

When: Saturday 25 April
Time: 14:00 - 16:00
Cost: R60 per person (includes a drink)
Where: Bridge Books Barbican, 89 Helen Joseph Cnr Rissik

30/03/2026

Every scratch, scribble, and stain of red ink is the city’s score.

“Instead of a pestering cacophony, I heard layers of sound that had an orderly-chaotic, balance—from children laughing to screeching tyres, from chirping birds to drunk adults hollering about nothing.” — Thabang Matsaung

This artwork emerged from the Windybrow Arts Centre, a dynamic space deeply embedded in Hillbrow, and forms part of the ‘Atlas of Uncertainty: Transforming African Cityscapes’ book.

Contributing artists ages 14 to 20:
Thandeka Masango
Reneilwe Leopeng
Thabang Matsaung
Genoc Kalongo
Khayalethu Ndlovu
Lesedi Udeh
Caleb Nyanguila
Zandile Dube
Lungalethu Mahlangu

Base map designed by Rebecca Potterton

Public opening: 18 April
RSVP: [email protected]

📍 Origins Centre, Wits University
Johannesburg
18 April – 3 July 2026
🔗 https://atlasofuncertainty.com/

Artist credit: I am the graffiti on the cracked wall — proof that galleries are not the home of art. Courtesy and copyright Windybrow Arts Centre.

African Centre for Migration & Society, Wits University Wits - University of the Witwatersrand Origins Centre Museum Columbia University Frame45 Northern Council for Global Cooperation

16/03/2026

Thank you to American writer Jeffrey Renard Allen for a reading and discussion that led us through the politics and poetics of distortion, via the burnished cry of Miles Davis’ horn, and the charged possibility of a meeting between Francis Bacon and Jimi Hendrix. A session of riffs, ruptures and revelatory detours, where sound became image, image became thought, and distortion opened onto new ways of seeing, hearing and writing. Thank you Jeff!

15/03/2026

25/02/2026

Kudos to my amazing colleague Hardy and the Windybrow, embarking on the third Long Poem project, reimagining Arthur Rimbaud's A Season in Hell through the lens of Hillbrow.

14/02/2026

06/02/2026

04/02/2026

Calling all young creatives! 🎭 Our afternoon Junior Arts Group officially starts on Monday, February 9th.

Designed for children aged 9–13, our programme offers a safe space to explore singing, drama, crafts, and more every weekday from 3pm to 5pm.

📍 Find us at 161 Cnr Nugget & Pietersen Streets, Doornfontein.

Join the fun and build new skills! 🎶🎨

01/01/2026

Welcoming 2026
As we step into a new year, the Achmat Dangor Legacy Project reflects with gratitude on a year of meaningful work inspired by Achmat’s life, values, and vision.

In 2025, Gabrielle Nthabiseng Mudiwa, recipient of the 2024 Achmat Dangor Literary Prize, completed the first year of her two-year MA in Creative Writing at Wits University. Her journey embodies the spirit in which the Prize was created: to open doors for young writers and to help shape new literary futures. This past year also saw the publication of an article about the ADLP on The Heritage Portal, as well as a series of social media posts sharing different facets of Achmat’s story and the project’s work. Most significantly, the digitisation of the Achmat Dangor Papers was completed and is now accessible via https://researcharchives.wits.ac.za/a3462-2 – an important milestone in ensuring ongoing access to Achmat’s archive.

Looking ahead, the third Achmat Dangor Literary Prize will take place later this year, with an official call for entries to follow. As we begin 2026, we return to Achmat’s own words – a compass for the work we do and a reminder of the responsibility we each hold:

“We must remember the past, but without letting ourselves be held back by it, and we must free our imagination … Think about what you can do to make the world a better place.”— Achmat Dangor, My Hope for Africa (2010)

May the year ahead be one of imagination, generosity, and bold creativity. Happy New Year from the Achmat Dangor Legacy Project.