This is a list of noted

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n writers, born or raised in Uganda, whether living there or overseas, and writing in one of the

languages of Uganda Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

A

Adong Judith Judith Adonng is a Ugandan playwright and filmmaker."Adong Lucy Judith"
wpic.riksteatern.se. Retrieved 20 Novembe ...

(born 1977), playwright * Grace Akello (born 1950), poet, essayist, folklorist and politician * Harriet Anena, short story writer, poet, journalist * Apolo Kagwa (1864–1927), prime minister of

Buganda Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the List of current non-sovereign African monarchs, traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Ug ...

Monica Arac de Nyeko Monica Arac de Nyeko (born 1979) is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays, living in Nairobi, Kenya.Asiimwe Deborah GKashugi, playwright *

Lillian Aujo Lillian Aujo is a Ugandan author. In 2009, she was the winner of the Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation's inaugural BN poetry prize. In 2015, she was longlisted for, and won the Inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature for her story "Where pumpki ...

, poet, short story writer

B

Doreen Baingana Doreen Baingana (born 1966) is a Ugandan writer. Her short story collection, ''Tropical Fish,'' won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region in 2006. Stories in it we ...

(born 1966), short story writer * Bake Robert Tumuhaise (born 1981), novelist *

Evangeline Barongo Evangeline Barongo is a Ugandan author of children's literature. Barongo is a founding member of the Uganda Children’s Writers and Illustrators Association (UCWIA), a platform that brings together writers and illustrators of children’s book ...

, children's writer *

Violet Barungi Violet Barungi (born 18 December 1943) is a Ugandan writer and editor. She has edited several publications published by FEMRITE.Mildred Barya Mildred Kiconco Barya is a writer and poet from Uganda. She was awarded the 2008 Pan African Literary Forum Prize for Africana Fiction, and earlier gained recognition for her poetry, particularly her first two collections, ''Men Love Chocolates ...

, poet *

Jackee Budesta Batanda Jackee Budesta Batanda is a Ugandan journalist,Jackee Budesta Batanda p ...

, short story writer, novelist * Austin Bukenya (born 1944), poet, literary theorist, actor and playwright * Busingye Kabumba (born 1982), lawyer, poet * Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire (born 1987), lawyer, poet, short story writer * Ernest Bazanye, journalist, author

D-K

Dilman Dila Dilman Dila is a Ugandan writer, film makerAngella Emurwon, playwright * Arthur Gakwandi (born 1943), novelist, academic, short story writer * Jessica horn-Uganda (born 1979), poet * Ife Piankhi, poet * Moses Isegawa (born 1963), novelist * Kabubi Herman, poet * Peter Kagayi, poet * Keturah Kamugasa (1967–2015), writer and journalist *

Catherine Samali Kavuma Catherine Samali Kavuma (born 1960) is a novelist and a prominent Ugandan personality."Interview of Catherine Samali Kavuma by Asmaou Diallo", ''Amina'', March 2003. In the mid-1980s Ms. Kavuma moved to Washington, D.C. to work with the Ambassad ...

(born 1960), novelist * China Keitetsi (born 1967), autobiographical writer *

Susan Nalugwa Kiguli Susan Nalugwa Kiguli (born 24 June 1969 in Luweero District, Uganda) is a Ugandan poet and literary scholar.Barbara Kimenye Barbara Kimenye (19 December 1929 – 12 August 2012) was a British-born writer who became one of the most popular and best-selling children's authors in East Africa, where she lived from the 1950s.James Murua, , jamesmurua.com, 19 September 20 ...

(1929–2012), children's writer * Wycliffe Kiyingi (1929–2014), playwright *

Henry Kyemba Henry Kisaja Magumba Kyemba (8 February 1939 – 18 October 2023) was a Ugandan political figure who held several high positions and finally became Ministry of Health (Uganda), Minister of Health during Uganda's rule by Idi Amin. He served in tha ...

(1939–2023), politician and writer *

Goretti Kyomuhendo Goretti Kyomuhendo (born 1 August 1965) is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist.

(born 1965), novelist

L-M

* Beatrice Lamwaka, short story writer * Bonnie Lubega (born 1929), novelist, children's writer and lexicographer * Lubwa p'Chong (1946–1997), playwright. * Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, poet, novelist, short story writer *

Irshad Manji Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of '' The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a P ...

(born 1968), author, professor and advocate *

Charles Mayiga Charles Peter Mayiga (born 1962) is a Ugandan lawyer, cultural leader and author and business man. He is the current ''Katikkiro'' (prime minister) of Buganda kingdom, a constitutional monarchy in present-day Uganda. He was appointed to that po ...

(born 1962), lawyer, prime minister of

(born 2013) * Rose Mbowa (1943–1999), playwright, actress and educator *

Mutesa II of Buganda Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II (19 November 1924 – 21 November 1969) was a Ugandan royal and statesman who served as the first president of Uganda from 1962 to 1966, when he was overthrown by Milton O ...

(1942–1969),

Kabaka of Buganda Kabaka is the title of the monarch, king of the Buganda, Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda, they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and the othe ...

* Christopher Henry Muwanga Barlow (1929–2006), poet *

Mahmood Mamdani Mahmood Mamdani, FBA (born 23 April 1946) is an Indian-born Ugandan academic, author, and political commentator, based in New York City. He is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and a Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and ...

(born 1933), academic and political writer * Patrick Mangeni, academic and writer * Mulumba Ivan Matthias (born 1987), poet, short story writer, novelist

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John Nagenda John Mwesigwa Robin Nagenda (25 April 1938 – 4 March 2023) was a Ugandan writer, political figure, and sportsman. In the 1960s, he pioneered post-colonial English literature in East Africa. He lived in exile in the United Kingdom in the 1970s ...

(1938–2023), writer and presidential adviser * Nakisanze Segawa, poet *

Beverley Nambozo Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva is a Ugandan writer,Glaydha Namukasa, novelist * Philippa Namutebi Kabali-Kagwa (born 1964), poet *

Peter Nazareth Peter Nazareth (born 27 April 1940) is a British literary critic and writer of fiction and drama. Life Peter Nazareth was born in Uganda. He is of Goan descent, and his mother's family was earlier based in Malaya-Malaysia-Singapore. He was edu ...

(born 1940), novelist, playwright, poet and critic *

Rajat Neogy Rajat Neogy (December 17, 1938 – December 3, 1995),Paul Theroux ''The Independent'', 15 January 1996, a Ugandan of Indian Bengali ancestry, was a writer, poet and publisher. In Kampala in 1961, at the age of 22, he founded '' Transition Magazine' ...

(1938–1995), writer and editor * Jason Ntaro, poet * Richard Carl Ntiru (born 1946), poet *

Michael B. Nsimbi Dr. Michael Bazzebulala Nsimbi, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (March 10, 1910 – March 5, 1994) was a Ugandan teacher, poet who was considered the Father of Baganda, Ganda literature, was a pioneer of Luganda la ...

(1910–1994), Luganda writer * Nyana Kakoma, short story writer * Julius Ocwinyo (born 1961), editor, poet and novelist * James Munange Ogoola (born 1945), poet, judge *

Okello Oculi Okello Oculi (born 1 January 1942) is a Ugandan novelist, poet, and chronicler of rural African village life. Currently, he is a private political and social consultant based in Abuja, Nigeria. Before that, he served as Professor of Social & Econ ...

(born 1942), novelist, poet and academic *

Okot p'Bitek Okot p'Bitek (7 June 1931 – 19 July 1982) was a Ugandan poet, who achieved wide international recognition for '' Song of Lawino'', a long poem dealing with the tribulations of a rural African wife whose husband has taken up urban life and wis ...

(1931–1982), poet *

Mary Karooro Okurut Mary Busingye Karoro Okurut (born 8 December 1954), more commonly known as Mary Karoro Okurut, is a Ugandan educator, author and politician. She is the former Cabinet Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, in ...

(born 1954), novelist, academic, politician *

Charles Onyango-Obbo Charles "Mase" Onyango-Obbo, also Charles Onyango Obbo, (born 1958) is a Ugandan author, journalist, and former Editor of '' Mail & Guardian Africa''. He is a former Managing Editor of '' The Monitor'', a daily Ugandan newspaper, former Executiv ...

(born 1958), journalist

R–Z

John Ruganda John Ruganda (30 May 1941 to 8 December 2007) was Uganda's best known playwright. Beyond his work as a playwright, Ruganda was also a professor at University of North, South Africa, University of Nairobi, and Makerere University. He was born in Fo ...

(1941–2007), playwright * Andrew Rugasira, author, businessman * Rose Rwakasisi (born 1945), children's writer, short story writer * Eneriko Seruma (born 1944), poet, novelist and short story writer * Robert Serumaga (1939–1980), playwright, director and novelist * Taban Lo Liyong (born 1939), Sudan-born poet and critic * Bahadur Tejani (born 1942), Kenyan-born poet, dramatist and literary critic * Lillian Tindyebwa, novelist, short story writer * Tumusiime Rushedge (1941–2008), novelist, cartoonist, surgeon * Nick Twinamatsiko, engineer, novelist, poet * Hilda Twongyeirwe, editor, poet, short story writer *

Ayeta Anne Wangusa Ayeta Anne Wangusa (born 9 September 1971) is a Ugandan writer and activist. A founding member (1995) of FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers Association,

(born 1971), activist, novelist, short story writer *

Timothy Wangusa Timothy Wangusa (born 1942) is a Ugandan poet and novelist. Wangusa was chairman of Uganda Writers Association and founder president of International PEN Uganda Centre. Early life and education Wangusa is an ethnic Mumasaaba, born in Bugisu, in ...

(born 1942), poet, novelist *

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...

(born 1944), politician, president * Samuel Iga Zinunula, poet * Elvania Namukwaya Zirimu (1938–1979), poet, dramatist * Pio Zirimu (died 1977), linguist and literary theorist

References

{{Lists of writers by nationality

Kumusha

Writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short stori ...

Ugandan Demographic features of the population of Uganda include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others. Population According to the total population was in , comp ...

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See also

References