Vela Onke Mazibuko (South Africa)
Vela Onke Mazibuko works in the fields of wellness and community development. His background is in psychology and public health, and he uses the principles of mindfulness to guide his personal and professional lives. Creativity and self-expression are central in his life. For Onke, writing is not only a way of positively being, but also a way to connect with others across perceived and unperceived barriers.
Robert Ray Musinguzi (Uganda)
Musinguzi Ray Robert is a 39-year old aspiring Ugandan writer, currently working with Kasese Taxi Park as the chairman of Bwera stage. He is a holder of a Business Administration and Management Diploma from Cambridge International College. In 2016 he attained a certificate in arts management and literary entrepreneurship during the Writivism Festival in Kampala. He started writing in 1999 during his school days, where he was the chairman of the Writers’ Club at St. Leo’s College Kyegobe and Chief Editor of “The Chronicle”, the college’s daily publication. An ardent reader, in 2003 he co-founded Kasese Readers Club. In 2013 Artbeat Afrika published some of his poetry in their project BLACK COMMUNION: Poems of 100 New African Poets. His poem, ‘Madiba’, appeared in the May 2015 issue of Lawino Magazine; and another poem “Two Mighty Hills” appeared in the 2015 BN Poetry anthology – Boda Boda Anthem. In 2017 his short story ‘Unexpected Dawn’ appeared in the Imagine Africa 500 anthology published by Pan African Publishers in Malawi.
Esther (Zambia)
At the age of nine, inspired by the adventures in The Odyssey by Homer, Esther set out to write worlds inspired by gods and human fallacy. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA Journalism and was part of the 2018 Femrite Regional Residency for African female writers. She is the founder of SAFIGI Foundation and President of Digital Grassroots. She is a Mozilla Open Leader and expert, Internet Freedom Festival Community Development fellow and Engineers Without Borders Canada Kumvana fellow. She is a ghostwriter who decided being a ghost is no fun at all.
Joshua Omenga (Nigeria)
Joshua Omenga was born in Nigeria. He studied Law at the University of Lagos and the Nigerian Law School. He practices law in Ibadan, Nigeria. His poem “The Watchman, of a Ruined City” was published in the 2016 edition of the Poets In Nigeria poetry anthology. His short story, “Because You Left Me”, was published in the Kayode Eso Students’ Chamber (UNILAG) short story anthology (Broken Chimes). He was an editor with Upcomings Magazine, Lagos, between 2013 and 2014.
Neobolisa Okwudili (Nigeria)
Okwudili Nebeolisa is a Nigerian writer whose work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Catapult, Commonwealth Writers, The Cincinnati Review, Salamander Magazine, Transition Magazine, Ambit Magazine and elsewhere. He has been a resident writer at the Ebedi International Writer’s Residency and has been a finalist or has been shortlisted for the Sillerman Prize, the Gerald Kraak Award, the Okot P Bitek Prize for Poetry in Translation, and the Tom Howard/ John H. Reid Ficiton and Essay Contest. He is an alumni of the inaugural- Writivism Writers’, SSDA Flow and Etisalat Prize Flash Fiction workshops.
Lauwo George is a university graduate with a masters degree in Intercultural Communication. Once a month in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania he participates in a storytelling event – Hadithi Zetu. Lauwo is also a poet and a number of his poems have appeared in the local newspapers in Tanzania. He is a founding member of a writers’ support group in Dar es Salaam. He currently works as a program manager in charge of coordinating a short story writing competition for secondary school students, as well as organizing creative writing workshops and literary events. Lauwo teaches English, part-time, at the British Council in Dar es Salaam. He is currently working on his first novel.
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