Poetry Africa has closed its 30th edition in Durban after bringing 130 poets from 44 countries together to strengthen creative exchange and community connection through poetry.
Swiss spoken-word artist Valerio Moser has been crowned champion of the fifth World Poetry Slam Championship, becoming the first European poet to win the global title since the competition was launched in 2022.
Moser took the championship at the Playhouse Drama Theatre in Durban on 9 October, bringing Poetry Africa’s landmark 30th edition to a close after a week that connected international artistic excellence with schools, community arts centres and reading groups across KwaZulu-Natal.
Ten poets representing countries across six continents reached the championship final, demonstrating the increasingly international reach of spoken-word poetry and the ability of creative platforms to connect people across language, culture and geography.
The finalists were Satoshi Nakauchi of Japan, Soyo Vi Zibo of Ghana, Dennis Mwangi Gachie of Kenya, Karelys Gissette Rios Santana of Puerto Rico, Maya Bassude of Canada, Moser of Switzerland, Ariatne Sarai Ruiz de Chavez de los Santos of Mexico, South Africa’s Zewande Bhengu, Some Sankar Louis Rodolphe of Burkina Faso and Teirangi Klever of New Zealand.
Competitors were assessed on both writing and performance by a jury comprising South Africa’s 2022 World Poetry Slam Champion Xabiso Vili, Ubah Cristina Ali Farah of Italy and Nanda of Gabon.
The judges narrowed the competition to five poets before naming Kenya’s Gachie runner-up and Canada’s Bassude third.
Moser, a four-time Swiss Poetry Slam Champion and 2025 European Poetry Slam Champion, performed in Swiss German, with subtitles allowing Durban audiences to engage with his work across the language barrier.
He celebrated his victory with a somersault on stage.
“Despite being the new World Champion in Poetry Slam I am speechless,” Moser said. “Inspiring performers from all around the world meeting at the melting pot of poetry – a Festival I will never forget.”
But Poetry Africa’s social impact extended well beyond the championship stage.
Held under the theme “Every Word a Street, Every Voice a City”, the festival used poetry as a platform for cultural exchange, education, community participation and conversations about the kind of societies people want to build.
“For thirty years, Poetry Africa has asked what words can do,” festival curator Siphindile Hlongwa said.
“This week, over 130 poets from 44 countries, answered on one stage in Durban, each in their own language and each impossible to ignore.”
The festival also took poetry beyond traditional theatre audiences.
Participating poets engaged with schools and community reading and writing groups through K-Cap, the Luthuli Museum, Wushwini Art Centre and Denis Hurley Centre.
A partnership with the eThekwini Municipality’s library department extended the programme into communities including Magabheni and KwaSanti.
That community component demonstrates how arts investment can create social value beyond performances themselves.
Access to writers, workshops and creative spaces can give young people opportunities to develop communication skills, explore identity and encounter perspectives that may be very different from their own.
For arts organisations and their funding partners, this is where cultural investment intersects with education, youth development and social inclusion.
South Africa also had a strong presence in the global competition.
Zewande Bhengu, the 2025 Poetry Africa National Slam Champion, reached the final ten and finished sixth overall, placing a South African voice among the world’s leading competitive poets on home soil.
Bhengu is a multidisciplinary artist and the author of Children Of Ghosts, an anthology exploring race, masculinity and the power of art.
South Africa’s next representative has already been identified, with Solly Ramatswi set to compete at the 2027 World Poetry Slam Championship in Japan.
The international handover also took place during the closing ceremony, where Hlongwa presented a handmade woven basket symbolising the curator’s baton to Japanese poet and curator Yuri Miki, who will host the championship in 2027.
Belgian poet and scholar Dr Philip Meersman received a special mention for his continued mentorship and contribution to the championship.
For Centre for Creative Arts Director Dr Ismail Mahomed, the festival demonstrated the role artists can play in shaping social conversations.
“Throughout this festival, poets and audiences said the same thing: we need a better world, and artists have an important role in shaping it,” Mahomed said.
“For thirty years, Poetry Africa has given that conviction a stage.”
The festival’s longevity also demonstrates what sustained partnerships can achieve in the cultural sector.
Its 30th edition was supported by partners including the German Embassy, National Arts Council, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, Italian Institute of Culture, South African Convention Bureau, KZN Tourism and Film Authority, KwaZulu-Natal Performing Arts Trust, French Institute of South Africa, The Playhouse Company, Siyaphumelela SAIDE and the World Poetry Slam Organisation.
Such partnerships allow cultural programmes to combine artistic development with tourism, international exchange, education and community participation.
For Durban, hosting artists from 44 countries also creates an opportunity to position the city as a meeting point for African and international creative voices.
Poetry Africa may have ended with one world champion, but its wider impact was distributed across stages, classrooms, libraries and community spaces.
Thirty years after the festival began, its continuing relevance lies in demonstrating that poetry can be more than performance.
It can create connection, build creative careers, give communities access to global voices and provide people with a platform to speak about the world they want to change.
