Eswatini's First National Children's Literary Festival · 8 August 2026 · Coronation Park, Mbabane
It happened. Nearly 300 of us stood in one park and celebrated young authors.
On 8 August, Coronation Park became Eswatini's first national children's literary festival —
six competitions, hundreds of authors, and a trophy that now belongs to one school for the year.
Here's how the day unfolded.
Every name here stood on a stage and told their story.
🏆 Nyangu Literacy Award of the Year — Champion School
Grace Primary School
The inaugural trophy, decided across eight events on the day, travels home with Grace Primary — and returns to Coronation Park next August for another school to win it back.
Writing Competition — Ages 10–12
1Alwande MdluliSeventh Day Adventist Primary, Manzini
2Sihlelelwe MngometuluMhlambeni Primary
3Naledi Mtsweni
4Praise SitholeGood News
Writing Competition — Ages 7–9
1Uviwe KuneneEvangelical Primary
2Buhle SibandaGrace Primary
3Iminathi MakamaExcelsiors Primary
4Aphiwe MalingaExcelsiors Primary
Poetry Slam
1Alice ChasusaGood News Primary
2Omuhle SimelaneGrace Primary School
Live Story Hour — Ages 10–12
1Alice ChasusaGood News Primary
2Nkosenothando Sithole
Live Story Hour — Ages 7–9
1Kai DunnsEnjabulweni Primary School
2Emihle VilakatiPremier Independent Primary
Spelling Bee
1Favour MagagulaGrace Primary School
2Nobubele Gamedze
Dictionary Dash — Ages 7–9
Tadiswashe
Yenzokuhle
Dictionary Dash — Ages 10–12
Livilakhe SimelaneEnjabulweni Primary
Anna
Parents' Category — Dictionary Dash
Faye Motha
The Double
Alice Chasusa won two categories in one day.
Good News Primary's Alice Chasusa took first place in the Poetry Slam and
first place in Live Story Hour, Ages 10–12 — two different stages, two
different disciplines, one afternoon.
The Champions
Grace Primary didn't just win the trophy.
Alongside the Literacy Award of the Year, Grace Primary took second in the
Poetry Slam (Omuhle Simelane), second in the
Writing Competition, Ages 7–9 (Buhle Sibanda), and first in the
Spelling Bee (Favour Magagula).
The Turnout
Almost 300 people chose to spend their Saturday celebrating literacy.
Families, teachers, and school groups filled Coronation Park for a full day of readings,
performances, and competition — proof that when you give literacy a stage, a community
will show up for it.
Why We Built This
A festival, not a school event.
Literacy is the root of almost every other outcome a child will have. We built the Nyangu Young
Authors Festival because Eswatini's children deserve more than a classroom exercise for their
writing — they deserve a stage, an audience, and a title worth competing for.
This is not a fundraiser with a bouncing castle attached. It is a civic literary moment — the day
a child stops being "a student who wrote a story" and becomes, publicly, an author.
A child who leaves Nyangu reading with confidence doesn't just read better. They decide they
are a reader. That identity is what changes everything that comes after.
Nyangu Learning Centre
As Featured On
The story reached further than the park gates.
The festival was covered by EBIS Radio,
in a group interview with our young authors, and by
Eswatini TV,
in a feature interview with one of our student representatives.
Opens at the festival segment of the broadcast.
Eswatini TV
A feature interview with one of our student representatives.
Every learner aged 7–12 who entered this year's national writing competition was asked one thing:
tell a story only you could tell. On 8 August, the strongest of those voices take the Main Stage —
read aloud, performed, and celebrated in front of the people who matter most to them.
The Festival Experience
One park. Five villages. A full day of story.
Coronation Park transforms into a festival ground built entirely around young authors —
not a fair with a literacy theme bolted on.
01
Main Stage
Readings, performances, and the Awards Ceremony. Where this year's champion school is crowned.
02
Young Authors Village
Meet the finalists. Hear the stories that made the cut, straight from the authors themselves.
03
Creativity Village
Live writing activities, story-building games, and hands-on sessions led by Nyangu's reading specialists.
04
Book Village
A marketplace of books, stories, and reading culture — for children and the parents raising them.
05
Learning Village
See the Nyangu Way™ up close — the same acceleration system behind the Academic Acceleration Programme™.
Also on the day
The Hall of Voices
Every child's story on the wall.
Book Swap
Bring a book, take a book home.
Folktales & the Big Read
Told and read aloud across the grounds.
Throughout the day
Food Court
Photo Zones
Child Safe Zone
The Inter-School Championship
The trophy isn't given. It's won — on the day.
The Nyangu Literacy Award of the Year is decided entirely at the festival, across
eight events. No school knows where it stands until the last one is scored — by design. It is a
full day of competitive drama, not a foregone conclusion.
The 2026 EventsScored live on 8 August
01Event 01
Choral Verse
What's TestedPerformance & voice
02Event 02
Story Chain Relay
What's TestedCollaborative storytelling under pressure
03Event 03
Fathers vs Sons Tug of War
What's TestedSchool spirit & team energy
04Event 04
Dictionary Dash
What's TestedVocabulary & speed
05Event 05
The Slam
What's TestedLive performance writing
06Event 06
Read-Aloud Relay
What's TestedFluency & expression
07Event 07
Book Balance Race
What's TestedFocus & fun
08Event 08
Word Wars
What's TestedHead-to-head vocabulary battle
Best five events plus turnout points decide the champion. The engraved trophy
travels home with the winning school — and returns to Coronation Park next August for the next
school to win it back.
Every winner walked away with a hamper of books because of these partners.
Official Bookstore Partner
Van Schaik Bookstore
Our official bookstore partner, donating books and dictionaries for every competition category, so every child who competed left with a book hamper of their own.
Prize Sponsors
Websters Pty Ltd and Français Alliance
Prize sponsors, providing mini addition books and headphones to our category winners.
Venue Partner
Mbabane Council
If your organisation would like to partner with Eswatini's national children's literary festival in 2027,
School registration for the 2027 festival opens 1 September.
Schools that want a place in next year's championship can register from 1 September.
The trophy returns to Coronation Park for another school to win it back.
Both. Twenty-plus schools competed for the Nyangu Literacy Award of the Year, and any family in Eswatini could walk onto the festival grounds free of charge — no registration required.
Across eight events on the day itself — Choral Verse, Story Chain Relay, Fathers vs Sons Tug of War, Dictionary Dash, The Slam, Read-Aloud Relay, Book Balance Race and Word Wars. Nothing was decided in advance. The scoring was designed so no school had an edge before 8 August. Grace Primary School took the inaugural trophy.
Yes. School registration for the 2027 festival opens on 1 September. Contact us on 7915 6393 or stories@nyangusparadise.com and we'll add your school to the list for next August.
Yes — preschools bringing 20 or more children receive a dedicated vendor stand, a Grand Stage slot, and programme recognition. Get in touch from 1 September to confirm your group's place for next year.
No. The festival grounds were free to attend. Some Book Village and Food Court vendors set their own pricing on the day.
Yes. The engraved trophy travels home with Grace Primary and returns to Coronation Park next August for another school to win it back. School registration opens on 1 September.
Behind the Festival
The specialists on stage are the same ones behind our classrooms.
The reading specialists running the Creativity Village and judging the Literacy Award are the same
team behind the Nyangu Academic Acceleration Programme™ — the private,
diagnosis-first system that's helped children go from guessing at words to reading fluently in as
little as 90 days.
If a day at the festival leaves you wondering whether your own child could be reading, writing, or
performing with that same confidence, that conversation starts with one thing: a Private Diagnostic
Assessment.
