The Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) will launch the UK chapter of its diaspora arm on Friday, November 27, 2026, at 10:00 am (UK time) at the Society of Authors, 24 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4EH. The launch is organised in association with the International Authors Forum and the Society of Authors, according to a report by Akintayo Abodunrin in the Nigerian Tribune, which also names the London real estate firm Daniel Ford as a supporter of the event. PAWA President Prof Bill Ndi and Secretary General Dr Wale Okediran will lead the launch together with members of the association’s executive council. Interested writers can RSVP to Dr Okediran at waleokediran@yahoo.co.uk.

PAWA was founded in Accra, Ghana, in 1989 as the umbrella body for writers’ associations across Africa and the diaspora, with the aim of promoting African literary heritage, defending freedom of expression, and encouraging cultural solidarity through education, workshops, and international collaboration. The Tribune notes that the UK launch is meant to revive the spirit of the 1962 African Writers Conference at Makerere University in Kampala, which brought together Chinua Achebe, John Pepper Clark, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Grace Ogot, Wole Soyinka, and Langston Hughes, among others.

According to Okediran, the chapter is a constitutionally endorsed initiative and not a shift away from PAWA’s commitment to writers on the continent. He says PAWA’s constitution has always provided for writers of African origin abroad, and that the decision to organise in the UK came at the instance of those writers, who had long asked for a platform. He calls diaspora writers “a bridge between the continent and the global space.” While he acknowledges that writers at home face distinct challenges that require different solutions, he says that with more writers settling abroad, it is increasingly important for PAWA to learn from the diaspora’s experience and influence.

The UK chapter follows the creation of an American affiliate, Writers of African Descent (WAFORD), which Okediran says has been active for the past three years. The decision to start a British chapter came after writers of African origin in the UK and Europe said that their community is larger and more established than those in the Americas and the Caribbean. For now, the goal is to launch the chapter officially, after which its elected officials will determine the structure, including whether to set up branches across the UK or to run the chapter from a central base in London.

The launch comes as African writers abroad are organising in other ways, including through the UK’s own writers’ bodies. It is a sign of how much of the continent’s literary community now lives and works beyond it. We will share more details as the date approaches.