The winners of the 2025 Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards have been announced, celebrating the finest Namibian writing and visual art published in Doek! Literary Magazine over the past two years. From the longlist, Jeremy Tiboth won the fiction prize for “Poisoned Pawn,” Filemon Iiyambo claimed the nonfiction award for “Sonic Overload: Auralgraph From Cairo,” Jedidja Kakuva took the poetry prize for a trio of poems, and Luigi Arnat won the visual art category for his photography series “Solitude.” Each winner receives NAD5,000 and a unique trophy commissioned from a Namibian artist.

Jeremy Tiboth’s “Poisoned Pawn” uses a chess game as metaphor to explore a tense father-and-son dynamic and coming-of-age. Judge Sylvia Schlettwein praised its “carefully crafted, yet easy flow” and innovative use of metaphors, noting the story is “atmospherically dense and psychologically observant.” Tiboth is a writer from Rehoboth currently studying Applied Maths at the Namibian University of Science and Technology.

Filemon Iiyambo’s “Sonic Overload: Auralgraph From Cairo” employs wit and vivid comparisons to immerse readers in foreign travels. Judge Samuel Mayinoti called Iiyambo “undeniably a star of the Namibian literary scene,” praising how he highlights themes of water scarcity, cultural unfamiliarity, and local cuisines with striking ease. Iiyambo is a writer, hydrogeologist, and former newspaper columnist whose work has appeared in Brittle Paper’s Erotic Africa and Isele Magazine. He was shortlisted for this award in 2021 and 2023, became the first Namibian to guest-edit Lolwe in 2023, and is currently working on a novel.

Jedidja Kakuva’s poetry trio—”In The Shadow Of Reflection,” “Man Enough,” and “When I Wake Up”—explores romance, identity, and missing childhood. Judge Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo praised “Man Enough” as “brave and vulnerable,” questioning traditional masculinity before ending “with the liberation of self-acceptance.” The poems “fit together like a puzzle,” bringing “a fresh voice to exploring selfhood.” Kakuva is a data professional and aspiring writer currently studying Mathematics and Physics.

Luigi Arnat’s photography series “Solitude” captured what judge Michelle Van Wyk called “the conversation and complexity of human solitude through multiple focal points.” She noted the work “haunts, calling to vulnerability,” representing “an undeniable testament to the excellence that prevails in Namibian creative perspectives.” Arnat is a photographer and aspiring full-time artist using his service industry experience to understand the human condition.

The 2025 judging panel, Ndawedwa Denga Hanghuwo, Samuel Mayinoti, Sylvia Schlettwein, and Michelle Van Wyk, highlighted originality, clever use of language, and integration of local perspectives in selecting winners who address complex themes within contemporary Namibian society. The Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards, awarded every two years, seek to bring wider audiences to Namibian literary artists. All shortlisted writers receive creative writing workshops and inclusion in forthcoming Doek Literary Festival programming.

Congratulations to all four winners!