Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
n writers, born or raised in Uganda, whether living there or overseas, and writing in one of the
languages of Uganda
In Uganda the most spoken local language is Luganda as the Baganda tribe occupies the southern central part of Uganda and the capital city of the country, followed by English (also the official language since 1962), as all schools in Uganda use i ...
.
A
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Adong Judith Adong Judith is a Ugandan playwright and filmmaker."Adong Lucy Judith" wpic.riksteatern.se. Retrieved 20 November 2 ...
(born 1977), playwright
*
Grace Akello
Grace Akello (born 1950) is a Ugandan poet, essayist, folklorist, and politician. She is the Uganda Ambassador to India.
Early life and education
Dinah Grace Akello is Iteso, and was born near Soroti, in the Eastern Region of the Uganda Protect ...
(born 1950), poet, essayist, folklorist and politician
*
Harriet Anena
Ber Anena born and previously published as Harriet Anena is a Ugandan writer and performer, whose writing includes poetry, nonfiction and fiction. She is the author of a collection of poems, ''A Nation In Labour'', published in 2015, won the 201 ...
, short story writer, poet, journalist
*
Apolo Kagwa
Sir Apollo Kagwa (standard Luganda orthography spelling Kaggwa) (1864–1927) was a major intellectual and political leader in Uganda when it was under British rule. He was a leader of the Protestant faction and was appointed prime minister ( ...
(1864–1927), prime minister of
Buganda
Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Buganda's Districts of Uganda, Central Region, inclu ...
*
Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monica Arac de Nyeko (born 1979) is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays, living in Nairobi.
Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana (born 1966) is a Ugandan writer and literary arts manager. Her short story collection, ''Tropical Fish,'' won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region ...
Evangeline Barongo
Evangeline Barongo is a Ugandan author of children's literature. Barongo is a founding member of the Uganda Children’s Writers and Illustrators Association (UCWIA), a platform that brings together writers and illustrators of children’s book ...
, children's writer
*
Violet Barungi
Violet Barungi (born 18 December 1943) is a Ugandan writer and editor. She has edited several publications published by FEMRITE.Mildred Barya
Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, and earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, ''Men Love Chocolates ...
Austin Bukenya
Austin Bukenya (born 10 February 1944) is a Ugandan poet, playwright, novelist and academic administrator.Busingye Kabumba
Busingye Kabumba (born 12 June 1982) is a Ugandan lawyer and poet. He is a Lecturer-in-Law, Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC), at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University and a Consulting Partner with M/S Development Law Associates.
(born 1982), lawyer, poet
* Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire (born 1987), lawyer, poet, short story writer
*
Dilman Dila
Dilman Dila is a Ugandan writer, film makerAngella Emurwon
Angella Emurwon is a Ugandan playwright. She won the 2012 International Playwriting Competition first prize in the English as a Second Language category for her play ''Sunflowers Behind A Dirty Fence'',Arthur Gakwandi
Arthur Gakwandi is a novelist, short story writer and diplomat.
(born 1943), novelist, academic, short story writer
*
Moses Isegawa
Moses Isegawa, also known as Sey Wava (born 10 August 1963), is a Ugandan author. He has written novels set against the political turmoil of Uganda, which he left in 1990 for the Netherlands. His debut novel, ''Abyssinian Chronicles'', was first pu ...
(born 1963), novelist
*
Kabubi Herman
Kabubi Herman is a Ugandan author and poet. He uses the stage name "Slim Emcee ".
, poet
*
Peter Kagayi
Peter Kagayi is a Ugandan poet,Serubiri Moses"Thought Structures, Deconstructing a Ugandan State of Mind" anotherafrica.net, 14 February 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2016. lawyerKeturah Kamugasa
Keturah Lydia Kamugasa (died December 20, 2017) was a Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to th ...
(1967–2015), writer and journalist
*
Catherine Samali Kavuma
Catherine Samali Kavuma (born 1960) is a novelist and a prominent Ugandan personality."Interview of Catherine Samali Kavuma by Asmaou Diallo", ''Amina'', March 2003.
Biography
Catherine Kavuma was born in Nkokonjeru, Uganda and at the age of ...
(born 1960), novelist
*
China Keitetsi
China Keitetsi (born 1976) is a Ugandan activist who has won international renown as a campaigner for the plight of child soldiers. The memoirs of Keitetsi, a former child soldier herself, have been translated into French, German, Japanese, Chines ...
(born 1967), autobiographical writer
*
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli (born 24 June 1969 in Luweero District, Uganda) is a Ugandan poet and literary scholar.Barbara Kimenye (1929–2012), children's writer
* Wycliffe Kiyingi (1929–2014), playwright
*
Henry Kyemba
Henry Kisaja Magumba Kyemba (simply known as Henry Kyemba likely born 1937-1939) is a Ugandan retired political figure who held several high positions and finally became Minister of Health during Uganda's rule by Idi Amin. He served in that post ...
(born 1939), politician and writer
*
Goretti Kyomuhendo
Goretti Kyomuhendo (born 1 August 1965) is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist.
(born 1965), novelist
L-M
*
Beatrice Lamwaka
Beatrice Lamwaka (born and raised in Alokolum, Gulu) is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize for her story "Butterfly Dreams".
, short story writer
*
Bonnie Lubega
Bonnie Lubega (born 1929) is an Ugandan novelist, fiction writer and lexicographer. He is the author of the novels ''The Burning Bush'' (1970) and ''The Outcasts'' (1971).G. D. Killam, Alicia L. Kerfoot(2008). ''Student Encyclopedia ...
(born 1929), novelist, children's writer and lexicographer
*
Lubwa p'Chong
Lubwa p'Chong (20 August 1946 – February 1997) was a Ugandan playwright and poet. He founded and edited ''Nanga'', the magazine of the National Teachers College, Kampala, and edited ''Dhana'', the Makerere University literary magazine. His poet ...
(1946–1997), playwright.
*
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (born 1960s) is a Ugandan-British novelist and short story writer.Daniel Musitwa"Ugandan Author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi wins 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize" africabookclub.org, 4 July 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2016 ...
, poet, novelist, short story writer
*
Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of ''The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a PB ...
(born 1968), author, professor and advocate
*
Charles Mayiga
Charles Peter Mayiga (born 1962) is a Ugandan lawyer, cultural leader and author. He is the current ''katikkiro'' (prime minister) in the government of Buganda, a constitutional monarchy in present-day Uganda. He was appointed to that position ...
(born 1962), lawyer, prime minister of
Buganda
Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Buganda's Districts of Uganda, Central Region, inclu ...
(born 2013)
* Rose Mbowa (1943–1999), playwright, actress and educator
*
Mutesa II of Buganda
Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II (modern spelling: Muteesa) (19 November 1924 – 21 November 1969) was Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda in Uganda from 22 November 1939 until his death. He was the thirty- ...
(1942–1969),
Kabaka of Buganda
the kabaka Palace in kireka
Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and ...
*
Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow
Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow (1 May 1929 – 20 August 2006)Mahmood Mamdani
Mahmood Mamdani, FBA (born 23 April 1946) is an Indian-born Ugandan academic, author, and political commentator. He currently serves as the Chancellor of Kampala International University, Uganda. He was the director of the Makerere Institute o ...
(born 1933), academic and political writer
* Patrick Mangeni, academic and writer
* Mulumba Ivan Matthias (born 1987), poet, short story writer, novelist
N-O
*
John Nagenda
John Mwesigwa Robin Nagenda (25 April 1938 – 4 March 2023) was a Ugandan writer, political figure, and sportsman. In the 1960s, he pioneered post-colonial English literature in East Africa. He lived in exile in the United Kingdom in the 1970s ...
Peter Nazareth
Peter Nazareth (born 27 April 1940) is a Ugandan-born literary critic and writer of fiction and drama.
Life
Peter Nazareth was born in Uganda of Indian Goan ancestry, and his mother's family was earlier based in Malaya-Malaysia-Singapore. He was ...
(born 1940), novelist, playwright, poet and critic
*
Rajat Neogy Rajat Neogy (December 17, 1939 – December 3, 1995),Paul Theroux ''The Independent'', 15 January 1996, a Ugandan of Indian Bengali ancestry, was a writer, poet and publisher. In Kampala in 1961, at the age of 22, he founded ''Transition Magazine'', ...
(1938–1995), writer and editor
* Jason Ntaro, poet
*
Richard Carl Ntiru
Richard Carl Ntiru (born 1946) is a Ugandan poet and editor. His only collection of poetry is ''Tensions'' (1971), which is rich in imagery reminiscent of the poetry of Christopher Okigbo and Paul Ndu. Ntiru deals with issues of contemporary Eas ...
James Munange Ogoola
Justice James Ogoola (sometimes referred to as James Munange Ogoola) is the former Principal Judge of the High Court of Uganda and a Justice of the COMESA Court of Justice in Lusaka, Zambia. He is the also the former chairperson of the ''Judi ...
(born 1945), poet, judge
*
Okello Oculi
Okello Oculi (born 1 January 1942) is a Ugandan novelist, poet, and chronicler of rural African village life. Currently, he is a private political and social consultant based in Abuja, Nigeria. Before that, he served as Professor of Social & Eco ...
(born 1942), novelist, poet and academic
*
Okot p'Bitek
Okot p'Bitek (7 June 1931 – 19 July 1982) was a Ugandan poet, who achieved wide international recognition for '' Song of Lawino'', a long poem dealing with the tribulations of a rural African wife whose husband has taken up urban life and wis ...
(1931–1982), poet
*
Mary Karooro Okurut
Mary Busingye Karooro Okurut (born 8 December 1954), more commonly known as Mary Karooro Okurut, is a Ugandan educator, author and politician. She is the former Cabinet Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, i ...
(born 1954), novelist, academic, politician
*
Charles Onyango-Obbo
Charles "Mase" Onyango-Obbo, also Charles Onyango Obbo, (born 1958) is a Ugandan author, journalist, and former Editor of '' Mail & Guardian Africa''. He is a former Managing Editor of '' The Monitor'', a daily Ugandan newspaper, former Executiv ...
(born 1958), journalist
R–Z
*
John Ruganda John Ruganda (30 May 1941 to 8 December 2007) was Uganda's best known playwright. Beyond his work as a playwright, Ruganda was also a professor at University of North, South Africa, University of Nairobi, and Makerere University.
He was born in Fo ...
(1941–2007), playwright
* Andrew Rugasira, author, businessman
* Rose Rwakasisi (born 1945), children's writer, short story writer
* Eneriko Seruma (born 1944), poet, novelist and short story writer
*
Robert Serumaga Robert Bellarmino Serumaga (1939 – September 1980) was a Ugandan playwright. He was also an important political figure in Uganda during the late 1970s, being the leader and co-founder of the Uganda Nationalist Organization militant group and M ...
(1939–1980), playwright, director and novelist
*
Taban Lo Liyong
Taban Lo Liyong (born 1939) is a poet, academic and writer of fiction and literary criticism from South Sudan. He was born in Kajo Kaji, Acholiland, in the Equatoria region of southern Sudan, but taken to Uganda at an early age. His politica ...
(born 1939), Sudan-born poet and critic
* Bahadur Tejani (born 1942), Kenyan-born poet, dramatist and literary critic
*
Lillian Tindyebwa
Lillian Tindyebwa is a Ugandan writer living in Kampala. She is the author of numerous books, notably the novel '' Recipe for Disaster'',Emmanuel Anyole"Recipe for Disaster (by Lillian Tindyebwa)" africabookclub.com, 30 December 2012. Retrieved ...
, novelist, short story writer
* Tumusiime Rushedge (1941–2008), novelist, cartoonist, surgeon
* Nick Twinamatsiko, engineer, novelist, poet
*
Hilda Twongyeirwe
Hilda Twongyeirwe is a Ugandan writer and editor."Hilda Twong ...
, editor, poet, short story writer
*
Ayeta Anne Wangusa
Ayeta Anne Wangusa (born Kampala, Uganda, 9 September 1971) is a Ugandan writer and activist.
A founding member (1995) of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association,
(born 1971), activist, novelist, short story writer
*
Timothy Wangusa
Timothy Wangusa (born 1942) is a Ugandan poet and novelist. Wangusa was chairman of Uganda Writers Association and founder president of International PEN Uganda Centre.
Early life and education
Wangusa is an ethnic Mumasaaba, born in Bugisu, in ...
(born 1942), poet, novelist
*
Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
Pio Zirimu
Pio Zirimu (died 1977) was a Ugandan linguist, scholar and literary theorist. He is credited with coining the word "orature" as an alternative to the self-contradictory term, "oral literature"List of African writers by country
This is a list of prominent and notable writers from Africa. It includes poets, novelists, children's writers, essayists, and scholars, listed by country.
Algeria
''See: List of Algerian writers''
Angola
''See: List of Angolan writers''
Ben ...
References
{{Lists of writers by nationality
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
Writers
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, plays ...