Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, stretching its poetic arm across Africa, in 2018, celebrated their fourth poetry festival in Mbale and Sipi Falls, Eastern Uganda. It was there that the highly gifted South Sudanese poet, Marial Awendit, was awarded the $700 prize. His poetry, a gift of the ages, has since been published by Babishai, in a poetry collection, titled, ‘The Night Does Not Drown, Us.’

Again, the unstoppable Marial strikes gold. In November 20203 at the African Writers Conference in Ghana, Marial was awarded first prize in the poetry category for his poem, The Nilotic Coddiwomple.

At The African Writers Conference, discussions around Artificial Intelligence and their interaction with creative writing came up. Marial strongly feels that,

“How will A.I be of practical help for the cattle rustlers in South Sudan? The reality is far removed.”

Marial further went on to praise Babishai for the elevation that the prize gave him.

“Babishai helped to elevate me into the limelight. My poetry is being taught at The University of Venda and many South Sudanese writers have been in touch with me.”

The Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation continues to support the work of African poets through publishing, training and poetry events.