Brittle Paper, the leading online destination for African literature, will host its inaugural Brittle Paper Literary Festival on Saturday, 29 August 2026. The one-day festival celebrates emerging writers in the African literary space. Listen to poetry and fiction readings from writers who got their start at Brittle Paper and learn from industry experts about navigating the publishing world. The festival is for anyone who believes that there is something extraordinarily courageous about the decision to begin writing!

Join Us 15:00 – 20:00 WAT / 10 AM – 3 PM EST: Zoom Link

There is a community of writers in publishing loosely designated “aspiring writers” and happen to be some of the most overlooked in the publishing ecosystem. Publishing is good at recognizing writers once they have “arrived”: when they have a book, an agent, a prize, or some other marker of success. Much less visible are the writers who are starting out in the literary journey.

At Brittle Paper, it has been our mission to give these writers a home. Each year we receive close to 2,500 submissions, mostly from writers based on the continent. We publish about 150 on our website and 50 more in seasonal anthologies. For many of these contributors, it’s their first time being published. They experience the mentorship of our Editor, Tahzeeb Akram, and go on to do wonderful things in their careers.

This festival is a celebration of these writers and also of beginnings and the writing life. It is our way of insisting that emerging writers, as the talent base of African publishing, are the most important members of our literary ecosystem. They are where new possibilities for African writing begin.

The festival opens with a showcase of brilliant writers who were published on Brittle Paper earlier in their writing journeys. The poetry session features Salama Wainaina, Aanuoluwapo Adesina, Salmah Salam Oiza, Chioniso Tsikisayi, Owen Habel Lwanda, Nabila Ismail, Laurène Southe, and Omobola Osamor and ends with a special guest appearance by Dr. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley. The fiction session comes after and features Amani Mosi, Mifa Adejumo, Bello Taiwo Victoria, Mercy Eni, Dami Salami, Riley Hlatshwayo, Mwende Makulu, Mali Kambandu, and Marjorie Namara Ruganda.

Novelists Kelechi Okafor and Chukwuebuka Ibeh will headline the keynote panel, “Can the Writer Still Have a Role in Society?” Moderated by Nteranya Sanginga, the conversation will explore the role of the writer in the age of AI and social media and how it has changed since the era of Achebe and Ngũgĩ.

Closing out the evening is a masterclass on How to Go From Rejection to Book Deal that features Othuke Ominiabohs, publisher of one of Nigeria’s most successful presses. The session will be moderated by Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim and will walk writers through the process of landing their first book deal.

All is welcome. If you are just starting out as a writer, join us. If you are an established writer who still remembers and cherishes those early days of your journey, join us. If you are curious and wondered whether you could be a writer, or have no idea where to begin, come. 

See the full program here.

August 29, 15:00 – 20:00 WAT / 10 AM – 3 PM EST  Zoom Link