Malawi Writers Union(Mawu) has expressed concern over the decline of reading culture in the country .
Mawu board chairperson Lawrence Kadzitche said this in Lilongwe during the unveiling of the 2025 short story writing competition.
He said the competition has been organised to promote new talent and increase visibility of writers.
Said Kadzitche: “We are hoping that through this competetion, we will unearth new talent and skills and increase visibility of writers and the union itself.
“We have many writers in the country that need to be part of this union regardless of what they write about.”
He added that even though the reading culture has gone down, they want to revitalise and rebrand Mawu so that many writers could join.
Submissions for the competion will run from March 18 to May 31 under the theme Artificial Intelligence (AI ) and Mental Health and is open to writers in diaspora and in the country, with award presentation slated for July.
Kadzitche said the rise of AI has sparked fears across professions that it might replace humans.
In a separate interview, Mawu president Shadreck Chikoti said the union has lined up activities and workshops to build capacity of writers.
“We have a number of activities in the pipeline that are targeting writers. We need to promote a community of writers that is vibrant in the literary space,” he said.
Chikoti said they also want to create an opportunity for writers to be travelling abroad to meet and share with other writers.
Mawu member and writer Kondwani Sichali said the body’s efforts are timely.
“They will help raise awareness that AI is not a threat to development. These efforts are what we need as a union if we are to move forward ,” he said.
The competition will feature two categories, the Secondary School Students Category with a top prize of K300 000 and the General Category open to all Malawian writers where the winner will walk away with K1 000 000.
