The Poetic Wednesdays Initiative has announced the third edition of the Kano International Poetry Festival, CAPFest 3.0, scheduled to take place from 15th to 17th October 2026 in Kano.
Speaking at a press briefing, Nana Sule, Communication Manager of the Poetic Wednesdays Initiative, said this year’s festival is particularly significant as it coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Poetic Wednesdays Initiative, which has spent the past decade promoting poetry, literary activities, creative expression and community engagement in Kano, northern Nigeria and Africa.
She said the theme of this year’s festival is “Reclaiming Languages,” focusing on the importance of language in preserving memory, heritage, culture and knowledge, while creating opportunities for indigenous and minority languages to remain relevant through contemporary writing, poetry, translation and artistic expression.
According to her, the festival will also explore the movement and interaction of languages across the Sahel, particularly as people move between Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and other parts of the region for trade, education and other activities. She said languages such as Hausa, Arabic and French continue to interact, evolve and influence one another through migration, culture, music, food, markets and literature.
Nana Sule explained that the opening activities will take place on Thursday, 15th October, at Gidan Dange Hausa, featuring creative writing classes and workshops. These will include a creative non-fiction workshop led by Netherlands-based writer Vamba Sherif, a women-only fiction masterclass with writer Fatima Bala, and a workshop for secondary school students facilitated by Hidayah Mahmood and Hafsat Ismail.
She added that a poetry clinic will also be organised to provide writers with professional feedback on their work, while the opening day will conclude with a cultural showcase featuring traditional music and a fashion presentation. Participants will be encouraged to dress in traditional attire, with ₦20,000 prizes each for the best-dressed male and female participants.
The main festival programme will begin on Friday, 16th October, at Amani Events Centre, featuring panel discussions, conversations, poetry performances and cultural presentations in both Hausa and English. The festival will also present its Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Ibrahim Malumfashi in recognition of his contribution to literature and culture.
The programme will feature discussions on indigenous languages, artist mobility, translation, literature and cultural exchange. A poetry slam will also provide a platform for young and emerging poets, with ₦1 million in cumulative prizes to be awarded to three performers.
The festival will continue on Saturday, 17th October, with further conversations, performances, film screenings and cultural exchanges, before concluding with an evening of performances led by headliner Bash Amunyeni.
Nana Sule said CAPFest 3.0 will also feature an art exhibition involving artists including Abu Salim, Rebi Human, Fatima Goni Usman and Umar Farooq, among others. The festival’s poetry archive, previously known as the Poetry Dispensary, will return in a new form featuring poems in different languages for audiences to experience.
She noted that CAPFest has grown from its first edition in 2024, which focused on words, poetry and Hausa heritage and attracted more than 500 participants, while its poetry slam generated more than one million online views. The 2025 edition focused on “Poetry in a Time of Crisis,” examining the role of poetry and the arts in responding to insecurity, climate change, censorship and other global challenges.
Nana Sule further announced that the Poetic Wednesdays Initiative is a recipient of the Nigerian Youth Futures Fund (NYFF) 2026 Development Grant Circle, through which it will implement the Ariwa Creative Writing and Advocacy Fellowship Project. The project is designed to train young creative writers to use their talents for advocacy and development.
She expressed appreciation to the initiative’s sponsors and partners, including the Open Society Foundations, Embassy of the Netherlands, Kano State History and Culture Bureau, Open Arts, The Third Space, CITAD, Bridge Connect Africa Initiative and the National Gallery of Arts, among others.
The Poetic Wednesdays Initiative therefore invites writers, artists, cultural enthusiasts, students, young creatives, members of the media and the general public to participate in CAPFest 3.0 from 15th to 17th October 2026 in Kano.
