Khayelihle Benghu is a South African writer based in Johannesburg. She is the author of The Names We Carry, a collection of poems. Her work has appeared in Ake Review, Person of Interest, Metphrastics, Eyes on the Telescope, and Aloka, among other publications. Her writing explores memory, belonging, landscape, and the enduring connections between people and place.

Abdulrazaq Salihu, TPC I, is a Nigerian Writer and Performance Poet. A member of the hilltop creative arts foundation, he has Received Residencies from IWE Nigeria, Frances Thompson Writers studio and is a 2025 Fellow at the LOATAD Black Atlantis. He won the Masks Poetry Award, LAP performance poetry prize, SOD, BKPW And poetry archive contest.

Laurène Southe is a 25-year-old writer of Congolese heritage based in Vienna, Austria. She has works in Brittle Paper, The Shallow Tales Review and the African Migration Report Poetry Anthology. During the Vienna Design Week in 2024, she performed her poems at the “A House is Not a Home” exhibition by curator and mentor Tonica Hunter. She’s also a 2023 Alumni of the Echo Correspondence writer residency where she wrote and finished her full-length collection, Child of Congo.

Naomi Nduta Waweru, Swan XVIII, writes her poems, short fiction and essays from Nairobi, Kenya. Her writing has been published in Lolwe, The 2023 Best Spiritual Literature Anthology of Orison Books, The Weganda Review, Ubwali, The Tribe, Poetry Column-NND, Clerestory, Down River Road, Pepper Coast Mag, Olney, Paza Sauti and elsewhere. She made the 2023 Kikwetu Flash Fiction Contest longlist, is a Best of the Net Nominee, an alumnus of the Nairobi Writing Academy as well as the Ubwali Masterclass of 2024. Reach her on Twitter and Instagram @_ndutawaweru.

Mugabi Byenkya is an award-winning writer of poetry, prose, essays, drama, comics, and songs. His writing has been published in Carte Blanche, Best Canadian Poetry, and Skin Deep, among over 35 other publications. He has been interviewed on Voice of America, NTV Uganda, and Urban TV and other media outlets.

Zama Madinana is a South African poet based in Johannesburg. He’s the author of the full-length collection ’94 (2023) which was longlisted for the 2022 South African Literary Award. His work has appeared in The Shallow Tales Review, Kalahari Review, Efiko, Libretto, Brittle Paper, Olney, and other literary publications.

Manthipe Moila is a poet from Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a BA Hons. in English Literature. Her work has been published in several online and print publications, including Tupelo Quarterly, New Contrast, Stirring, A Long House, 20.35 Africa, Agbowó, and Saranac Review.

Phodiso Modirwa is a Motswana writer whose works appear in Guernica Magazine, Brittle Paper Magazine, Jalada Africa, 20.35 Africa, Lolwe, Agbowo and elsewhere. Her chapbook “Speaking In Code” was published by Akashic Books, as part of the New Generation African Poets Box Set: Tisa. 

Adesiyan Oluwapelumi, TPC XI, is a Nigerian medical student, poet, essayist, and Assistant Editor at Fiery Scribe Review. He is the winner of the 2022 Cheshire White Ribbon Day Creative Contest and a 1st runner up of the 2023 Fidelis Okoro Prize for Poetry. His works appear or are forthcoming in Fantasy Magazine, Poet Lore, Tab Journal, Poetry Wales, Variant Literature, and in the annual Outstanding Young Writers Anthology (Paper Crane, 2023). He was also a 2023 Adroit Journal Summer Mentee and a 2023 SprinNG Writers’ Fellow.

Aaishah Mayet hails from the City of Gold, Johannesburg, South Africa. She works in the Healthcare sector which, for her, has bridged the frontiers of our shared human experience. As a confessed bibliophile of many years, literature remains her teacher and her sanctuary. Her work has been featured in the International Human Rights Arts Festival, and published in Lotosblute, Agbowo, Praxis, Poetry Potion, Active Muse, Brittle Paper, The Lote Tree Press, and Amaliah.

Ọbáfẹ́mi Thanni is a Nigerian poet whose works of poetry and fiction have received Pushcart Prize nominations. An alumnus of the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study’s Writers’ Workshop, he spends his time between the cities of Ibadan and Lucille, making attempts at beauty.

Ejiro Elizabeth Edward is a writer from Nigeria. She is the winner of Antoa Poetry Contest 2021. She has been published in Olney Magazine, Lolwe, Hoax, Down river road, Native skin, Consequence Forum, Isele Magazine, Nigerian-news Direct Column, Serotonin, and elsewhere. She is the curator of the Benin art and book festival, a three-day event aimed at promoting reading and the appreciation of art in Benin city. She looks forward to being an MFA student and getting her chapbook published.