Poetry Africa proud host of the 2026 World Poetry Slam Championship:
08 – 10 October 2026
Ari Sitas is a renowned South African poet, dramatist, writer, and sociologist. A founding member of COSAW, COSATU’s Culture and Working Life Unit, and the Natal Culture Congress, he has played a key role in shaping the country’s cultural and academic landscape. His recent works include Maps of Sorrow (2023), Music Notebook (2023), and his tenth poetry collection Surplus Values. Sitas is also co-founder of the award-winning Insurrections Ensemble and recently directed the musical oratorio Must Gandhi Fall?. His poetry has been widely translated, with previous collections including Tropical Scars, Slave Trades, RDP Poems, and Mapping Gondwana.
Each year Poetry Africa honours a leading South African poet who stands stand as a beacon to uphold South Africa’s Constitutional Democracy and whose voice is a reminder about the values in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Centre for Creative Arts upholds Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Creativity as guaranteed in Section 16 of the South African Constitution. The Centre for Creative Arts recognises that artists may sometimes live and work in States whose values may not always be in accordance with the values of the South African Constitution but the Centre for Creative Arts commits to protect and advance the rights of any artist who freely chooses to participate in the Centre’s festivals where their voices and artistic expressions can contribute to building a better world for all people.
