The chosen symbol for the 2023 edition of the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards is the aloe. Designed by Clara Mupopiwa.

The longlist for the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards is out and it includes a stunning range of Namibian fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.

The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards are awarded every two years to celebrate the works of four Namibian literary artists—two writers (fiction and nonfiction), a poet, and a visual artist—published in Doek! Literary Magazine. The awards seek to bring a wider Namibian and international audience to the selected works, writers, poets, and visual artists.

Bank Windhoek, the official sponsor of the Awards, has always been an active supporter of Namibian art and artists within the country’s young democracy. Each winning literary artist is awarded NAD5000 in cash sponsored by Bank Windhoek. The winners are also presented with a unique trophy commissioned from a Namibian artist.

All longlisted, shortlisted, and winning literary artists are provided with unique opportunities such as book prizes, further publication in select anthologies, offers of representation, appearances at literary festivals, participation in creative workshops, access to mentorship programs, exhibitions in local, national, and international galleries, and art residencies in Namibia and abroad.

The following Namibian literary artists are longlisted for the 2023 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards:

Fiction

Charmaine //Gamxamus: “Misdirection” (Issue 9: September, 2022)

Emmerita Ambata: “The Seasons Of Beatrice And Katherine” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Roxane Bayer: “Letters To Chloe” (Issue 7: November, 2021)

Kay-Leigh De Sousa: Jacob’s Technicolour Taxi” (Issue 10: May, 2022)

Karin Eloff: “One Man’s Trash” (Issue 9: September, 2022)

Maria Iita: “Where Do I Start?” (Issue 11: September, 2023)

Filemon Iiyambo: “Their Mother’s Words” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Delila Katanga: “Vara” (Issue 7: November, 2021)

Andelaine Tsowases: “Make It, Pay It” (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Nonfiction

Frowin Becker: “Deliver Me, Anvil” (Issue 9: September, 2022)

Nina Van Zyl: “Motherhood” (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Poetry

Kina Indongo: “Windhoek” Issue 7: November, 2021), “How Things Are And How They Happen“, and “Our Last Conversation” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Veripuamu Nandee Kangumine: “Daughters Of A Witch” and “There Isn’t A Word In Your Language For Being Touched” (Issue 7: November, 2021); “The Jackal Who Prepares You For Marriage” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Ros Limbo: “Beloved Step-Child” and “She Lay There” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Frieda Mukufa: “Edhina Ekugidho” and “Love, Reimagined” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Vivian Tjijandjeua Ojo: “The Dust Was Here First” and “Soil Dances Of Kaokoland, Badagry, and Amhara” (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Tjizembua Tjikuzu: “Praise Song For Kangozu“, “Prince Of Rain“, “Ode To My Childhood Dog” (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Keith Vries: “Jamal” and “Who Did You Leave Under The Sea” (Issue 10: May, 2023)

Visual Art

Nicola Brandt: “When The Land Speaks” (Issue 8: May, 2022)

Katherine Hunter: “How Frankenstein Created A Character” (Issue 11: September, 2023)

Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa: “The Gift” (Issue 9: September, 2022)

Through Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibian writers, poets, and visual artists have been adding their voices to Namibia and Africa’s literary consciousness. Each publication is a reflection of the diversity of thought and the abundance of literary craft that is present in Namibia.

Congrats to the longlisted writers and artists! Check out their work in Doek! Literary Magazine here.