South African poet Siphokazi Jonas has won the 2025 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry for her acclaimed debut collection Weeping Becomes a River. Awarded annually by the African Poetry Book Fund, the prize recognizes outstanding African poetry written in English or translation. Jonas’s collection, published by Penguin Random House South Africa, has already received several honors, including the 2025 UJ Debut Prize and the 2024 Book Lounge Book of the Year Award. Judges praised the work for its emotional depth, sensory richness, and ability to challenge colonial narratives without sentimentality. Jonas, who also works across theater and performance, is adapting parts of the collection into a children’s book exploring African oral storytelling traditions, scheduled for release in August 2026.
Brittle Paper