Dr Gcina Mhlophe to be honoured at Poetry Africa

Gcina Mhlophe to receive Poetry Africa 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award

September 8, 2026

Poetry Africa today announced that storyteller, poet, playwright and actress Dr Gcina Mhlophe will receive its 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising more than four decades of contribution to South African oral tradition, literature and theatre. The award will be presented during the festival’s 30th edition, running from 5 to 10 October 2026 at the Durban Playhouse Theatre.

It is a true honour to be recognised in this manner! I’m humbled and my heart is full of Gratitude, Sibonga Ophezulu, Sibonge Abaphansi. – Dr Gcina Mhlophe

Born in KwaZulu-Natal in 1958, Gcina Mhlophe rose to prominence in the 1980s through her work at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre, including her acclaimed autobiographical play Have You Seen Zandile?, which won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival. She is widely credited with helping revive oral storytelling as a recognised South African art form, performing and teaching across four of the country’s languages – English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa.

Her body of work spans theatre, poetry, children’s literature and film, and has been translated into numerous languages. Her honours include a SAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award, an Obie Award, the South African Children’s Laureate Award, and honorary doctorates from universities in South Africa and abroad. In 2016, she was named to the BBC’s 100 Women list. Gcina Mhlophe‘s birthday, 24 October, has been marked as National Storytelling Day in South Africa since 2019.

Gcina Mhlophe has spent decades reminding us that a story, told with courage, can hold an entire nation’s memory. – Ismail Mahomed, Director of the Centre for Creative Arts

Honouring her this year is a chance to celebrate not just a body of work, but a legacy that has shaped how South Africans understand the power of their own voices.

The announcement follows Poetry Africa‘s opening reveal of its 2026 Featured Poet, Koleka Putuma, and comes on the same day as the festival’s celebratory draw for the World Poetry Slam Championship quarter-finals, live-streamed on the Poetry Africa festival page on Facebook. The 5th World Slam Poetry Championships will bring 40 slam poets from 40 nations to Durban this October.

Tickets

Tickets are available through Webtickets.

About Poetry Africa

Poetry Africa is an annual international poetry festival curated and presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban. Running since 1997, the festival brings together spoken-word and published poets from South Africa and around the world for performances, panel discussions, campus and school visits, poetry exchanges, book launches, open mic sessions and slam competitions. Over 30 years, Poetry Africa has created a platform for poets and audiences to reflect on the role of poetry in society and social change, while also supporting academic scholarship in contemporary poetry at UKZN.