2026 marks the 19th birthday of Modjaji Books and the Woordeloos poetry anthology is a celebration of our work and the writings of southern African women.
Thank you to all 240 poets who submitted from all over southern Africa. We were delighted by the inventive use of language, the humour, the interplay between languages, the truth-telling, the range of subjects and attention to specific details that emerged from the poems. If you submitted and your poem wasn’t selected there is more information about our selection process here.
After we read all the poems submitted many times, after sifting, long-listing, then shortlisting – finally we can announce the poets and poems that will be published in our Woordeloos Anthology.
Liliana Risi, who funded and initiated the Woordeloos project said, “I have read all 240 poems that were submitted. My heart is overflowing that so many people chose and decided to make the effort, to find the time, to find the energy, to find the courage, to send us their poems. I have been so moved by your commitment.”
Selected poets and poems
- Danille Arendse (Bester) – Kom haal os, Os wo huistoe ko (Come Fetch us, We Want to Come Home)
- Diane Awerbuck – Supergiant
- Rutendo Chichaya – Gathered Seams
- Yvonne Fontyn – Broccoli
- Vangile Gantsho – Makhulu
- Abigail George – Why does a woman write
- Nosipho Gumede – Dear Gold, rush me to Johannesburg
- Carri Kuhn – The Skull
- Tsholofelo Lebese – Mothusi Street
- Olga Leonard – slaapliedjie vir ’n stilgeboorte
- Skye Ayla Mallac – The bones of it all
- Sethunya Hlobisa Matsie – Little Girl
- Marthé McLoud – Grief
- Asante Mtenje – Petition
- Tshifhiwa Hellen Munyai – A Corpse On My shoulder
- Emma Paulet – What I miss about Queenswood
- Neema Rabannye – OUR MOTHERS BEAT SELLOANE’S HUSBAND WITH A WOODEN SPOON AFTER HE TOOK HALF OF HER FACE OFF AND WE SANG
- Patricia Schonstein – To My Husband of Fifty-one Years
- Luto Skweyiya – uQongqothwane
Congratulations to all selected poets!
Selected poets will receive an email from us next week, with further information.