Pan-African writers’ body to launch UK chapter in London

The main idea goes back to the spirit of Kampala in 1962: African literature, with all its diversity, grows stronger when writers can meet, share ideas, and imagine a shared future.

IN June 1962, some of the most influential voices in African literature met at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, for the First African Writers Conference. The event brought together a generation of writers who helped shape Africa’s literary identity. Among those present were the late Professors Chinua Achebe, John Pepper Clark, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (then known as James Ngugi), Ezekiel Mphahlele, American writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, Grace Ogot, and Professor Wole Soyinka.

Now, more than sixty years later, London is getting ready to host an event that aims to revive that pan-African literary spirit.

At 10 am on Friday, November 27, the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) will launch its UK chapter at the Society of Authors, 24 Bedford Row, London. The International Authors Forum (IAF), the Society of Authors, and London-based real estate firm Daniel Ford support the event.

PAWA was founded in Accra, Ghana, in 1989. It brings together writers’ associations from across Africa and the diaspora. The group aims to promote African literary heritage, defend freedom of expression, and encourage cultural solidarity through education, workshops, and international collaboration.

Dr Wale Okediran, PAWA’s secretary general, will lead the London launch with members of the association’s executive council. He says the UK chapter is a constitutionally endorsed initiative that reflects the growing presence of African writers outside the continent.

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He argues that this move is not a shift away from PAWA’s commitment to writers in Africa, but an extension of it. As migration changes the landscape of African literature, the association believes that writers living abroad play an increasingly important role in its growth.

“PAWA’s constitution made a provision for the inclusion of writers of African origin in the diaspora in the association’s membership,” Okediran said. “This was done to give these writers a platform on which to relate with writers on the continent.”

He acknowledged that African writers at home still face complex challenges that need different solutions. However, with more writers settling abroad, he said it is increasingly important for PAWA to learn from the diaspora’s experience and influence.

“More importantly, it is obvious that African writers in the diaspora play a vital role in global literature as they act as a bridge between the continent and the global space,” he added.

It is still unclear whether writers of African origin in Britain and Europe will join the new chapter. However, Okediran says the initiative partly came about because writers have long wanted a platform to connect with colleagues across Africa.

“It is interesting to state that PAWA’s decision to associate with writers of African origin was at the instance of these writers who over the years had been clamouring for a platform on which to express themselves fully,” he said.

He also notes that writers are often very independent and may not want to join formal organisations. “Despite this, it is important for PAWA to hearken to the voices of those who need a platform such as PAWA through which they can relate to each other,” he said.

The UK initiative comes after the creation of an American affiliate, Writers of African Descent (WAFORD), which Okediran says has been active for the past three years.

The decision to start a British chapter came after writers of African origin in the UK and Europe said their community is both larger and more established than those in the Americas and the Caribbean.

For now, PAWA’s main goal is to officially launch the chapter. The elected leaders will set up its structure and decide how it will work.

Okediran said the chapter’s elected officials will manage its activities, including whether to set up branches across the UK or run everything from a central base in London.

The goal is to build a stronger network that connects African writers across borders, especially as the continent’s literature is shaped by movement between places, languages, and traditions. Whether the new chapter becomes a lasting meeting point for writers in Britain and Europe will depend on the community it brings together.

But the main idea goes back to the spirit of Kampala in 1962: African literature, with all its diversity, grows stronger when writers can meet, share ideas, and imagine a shared future.