Poetry Contest Zambia 2026, Ndakatulo & Slam

Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for Zambian poets. Write in English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga or Lozi, win cash prizes, and get a certificate and scores on every poem.

In Zambia poetry has long travelled by voice. Julius Chongo told his Nyanja poems and stories on Radio Zambia's Poceza M'madzulo every week for a full decade across the late 1960s and 1970s, and ndakatulo is still the word a Chinyanja speaker reaches for when a poem is meant. The voice carries on at Lusaka's slam nights, where the Word Smash Poetry Movement, going since 2017, stages national slams, and it carries abroad too: Kayo Chingonyi, born in Zambia, won the 2018 Dylan Thomas Prize for Kumukanda, a collection named after the Luvale rite of initiation.

Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest that takes Zambian work in whichever language it arrives, English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi or any other, with no translation required at any stage. Entries open on the 1st, close on the 25th and results are published on the 30th. Winners take cash prizes, every entrant collects a participation certificate, and each poem comes back with a score across creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme saved to the poet's profile. Poets from more than 50 countries have entered, and Zambia is already on the board: Maines Namfungwe placed 8th in September 2025 with Killer of nature.

Writory holds a monthly international poetry contest that Zambian poets can enter in English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi or any other language, with cash prizes for winners and a certificate for everyone who submits.

Why enter

Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi and English entries reach the same judges under the same five criteria, so a poem in a Zambian language never waits behind the English pile.
There is no set form, so a piece built for a Lusaka slam stage and a quiet page poem are each read on their own terms.
Twelve separate contests a year, so missing the 25th one month costs you nothing more than a wait until the 1st.
Entry is open from age 13, putting Grade 12 writers and long practising poets in the same reading pile.
Poets who normally read at a Lusaka open mic or enter a school competition get a monthly route to an international readership without leaving Zambia.

What winners and entrants receive

Cash prizes for the winning poems, announced on the 30th of the month you entered.
A participation certificate for every Zambian entrant, placing or not.
Win a month and your next entry costs nothing, and the same applies after three months of entering in a row.
The strongest poems of the month go up on the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.

Ndakatulo, praise poems, spoken word pieces set down on the page, haiku, rhymed verse and open free verse are all accepted, in English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi or whichever language the poem arrived in.

Key facts

Entries open the 1st, close the 25th at 11:59 PM IST, results on the 30th.
One poem $5, two poems $8, five poems $15 (Rs 150 / Rs 220 / Rs 450 in India).
Every poem scored by human judges on five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme.
A participation certificate for every entrant, not only winners, and the score is visible in your profile.
Cash prizes for winners, free entry the following month for winners, open worldwide from age 13, any language.

Questions

I write in Nyanja and Bemba as well as English. Can I enter?

Yes. Writory accepts poems in any language, so Nyanja, Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, English and mixed language work are all valid entries, and you never need to supply a translation alongside them.

My poems are written for the stage, not the page. Do they stand a chance?

Yes. Judges score the text on creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme, so a slam piece is read for the same craft as a page poem. Submit the words exactly as you perform them, and the five scores are saved to your profile.

Has a Zambian poet actually placed at Writory?

Yes. Maines Namfungwe placed 8th in the September 2025 contest with Killer of nature, scored 83, and the result is publicly listed at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.

What will it cost me to submit from Zambia?

Fees are charged in US dollars: $5 buys one poem, $8 buys two and $15 buys five. Winners pay nothing the month after they win, and three consecutive months of entering also earns a free entry.

How long is the wait between submitting and finding out?

Submission runs from the 1st to the 25th and results are published on the 30th, so a poem sent early in the month is settled before that month ends.

By the Writory editorial team. Updated July 2026.

Enter the August contest · International poetry contest · Past winners · Read the winning poems