What is the Uganda Poetry Society (UPS)? That’s the question. While we all know Jesus or whomever we worship or believe in is the Answer, as long as who you believe in or worship does you or anybody else no harm, we need an answer to the question: What is UPS?
The answer is not in what UPS is but who it is. It is an amalgam of poets with their eyes on the prize of creative cooperation as opposed to destructive competition. In brief, UPS is an agreement between every poet or poetry enthusiast that it is time we changed the material fortunes of poets towards better remuneration, status and creativity. And in not in that order, too.
In January 2024, UPS was born to crystallize what poets have in common in terms of creative interests and, in the process, put paid to those things that drive poets apart. Out of this, the first president was chosen in the person of Mr. Philip Matogo. He was deputized by Dr. Ampat Koshy. Together, they led (and lead) an illustrious and international team (please see Founders Page: https://ugandapoetrysociety.org/founders/). The Patron of UPS is the revered Prof. Timothy Wangusa.
A new constitution was thereupon formalized and the UPS Electoral Commission has slated elections for early 2026. Also, the Annual Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award was created through a collaboration between Dr. Ivan Edwards, a respected American-Ugandan renaissance man poet, and UPS to discover a new breed of poet. One willing to extend the frontier of poetry beyond its current limits in order to break new creative ground that will enable all poets benefit positively from their craft.
The Annual Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award comes in two parts: 1. $1000 for Ugandan poets above the age of 18. 2. $200 for Ugandan poets below the age of 18. Both categories of winners will be divided into spoken and written word poets and will share in the cash prizes that come with those two categories. For example, two winning poets will share the $1000 cash prize. One will submit a 2-minute spoken word video and the other a 500-word poem. This same criteria applies to the $200 prize.
The theme for both categories of competition will be, “Unity”. The judges for this award will be Stella Nyanzi, Joanitah Atuhaire, Ampat Koshy, Alex White and Jese Unoh.
The Award shall be handed over to the winners on March 28th, 2026, at a gala event in Nyungu Yamawe Forest Park. The Guest of Honour is Gender and Ethics Commissioner Bernard Mujuni, while the Chief Guest will be one of the highest-ranking personages in the East African region. The latter will be announced early next year.
Apart from this Award, UPS has partnered with Kampala Film School whose documentaries and short films have been Academy Award-nominated. The Executive Director of the Kampala Film School is Sarah Kateregga, who will also be the keynote speaker at the launch of the Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award in March next year.
At this two-day event, the Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award ceremony, we shall have masterclasses helmed by top commercial writers such as Airtel’s Daniel Odaka and other experts in technical and literary writing. These lessons will lend commercial value to the writings of poets and all those creatives who seek to harness their literary abilities to the maximum.
We shall also have performances, screenings, book launches such as The Gathering Anthology and other forms of creative expression that cut across the creative and cultural spectrum.
UPS is thus here to change the fortunes of poets and poetry, especially through connecting them to organizations, gigs, publishing houses and other opportunities for money making which ensure that the richness of their words reflect the wealth of their potential to make a living from their singular craft.
I know that even at this late stage of the article, someone will still ask what UPS is? To be sure, UPS is precisely what you want it to be. For it is based on the aspirations and activities of its members. So, make your dreams count by working with UPS towards your own creative fulfillment.
