Editing Poet laureate (section)

=== Africa ===

==== Algeria ====
In [[Algeria]], during the 11th century, [[Ibn Sharaf al-Qayrawani]] was the court poet of the [[Zīrid]]s. Al-Thaghri Al-Tilimsani was appointed as a court poet during the [[Zayyanid dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=محمد |first=حمود، |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nh1jAAAAMAAJ |title=موسوعة الأدباء والشعراء العرب |date=2001 |publisher=دار الفكر اللبناني، |language=ar}}</ref>

==== Burkina Faso ====
Boûbacar Tinguidji, a Fula ''maabo'', was appointed as the court poet of the Ruler of [[Dori, Burkina Faso|Dori]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Belcher |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pxwg6XX1GaMC |title=Epic Traditions of Africa |date=1999-10-22 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21281-8 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Cameroon ====
Poets laureate of [[Cameroon]] include [[René Philombé]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nantet |first=Jacques |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmIoAAAAMAAJ |title=Panorama de la littérature noire d'expression française |date=1972 |publisher=Fayard |language=fr}}</ref>

==== Cape Verde ====
Poets laureate of [[Cape Verde]] include [[Eugénio Tavares]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lima-Neves |first=Terza A. Silva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2j7EAAAQBAJ |title=Cabo Verdeans in the United States: Twenty-First-Century Critical Perspectives |date=2024-05-15 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-6669-4299-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Egypt ====
[[Ahmed Shawqi]] became [[Egypt]]'s Poet Laureate in 1894.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ahmed Shawqi .. The Prince of Poets |url=https://thelevantnews.com/en/article/ahmed-shawqi-..-the-prince-of-poetsjuly-25,-2022,-10:11-pm#google_vignette |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=thelevantnews.com |language=en}}</ref>

==== Eritrea ====
Poets laureate of [[Eritrea]] include Reesom Haile.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeitlin |first=Stephen J. |date=March 2003 |title=The People's Poetry |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/28/article/51615/pdf |journal=Oral Tradition |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=6–13 |doi=10.1353/ort.2004.0045|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Ethiopia ====
[[File:Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin.jpg|thumb|Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin of Ethiopia]]

In [[Ethiopia]], the officially designated Laureate includes [[Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin]]. Tsegaye's award was granted in 1966 by His Majesty, Haile-Selasie II.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin |url=http://www.tsegaye.se/ |access-date=August 21, 2019 |website=tsegaye.se}}</ref>

==== Gambia ====
Poets laureate of [[The Gambia]] include [[Lenrie Peters]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0BnAAAAMAAJ |title=Cultures of the Commonwealth: Essays and Studies |date=1998 |publisher=Cultures of the Commonwealth |language=en}}</ref>

==== Ghana ====
Poets laureate of [[Ghana]] include [[Atukwei Okai]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seligson |first=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfcqEAAAQBAJ |title=Gaps and the Creation of Ideas: An Artist's Book |date=2021-03-08 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-6723-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>[[David Mungoshi]], [https://www.herald.co.zw/tribute-to-ghanas-poet-laureate-atukwei-okai/ "Tribute to Ghana's poet laureate Atukwei Okai"],''The Herald'' (Zimbabwe), 31 July 2018.</ref>

==== Kenya ====
Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy was the Poet Laureate of [[Mombasa|Mombasa, Kenya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knappert |first=Jan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BhEOAQAAMAAJ |title=Swahili Culture |date=2005 |publisher=E. Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-6193-2 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Lesotho ====
Poets laureate of [[Lesotho]] include [[Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8hBAAAAYAAJ&q=poet+laureate+of+lesotho+joshua+pulumo |title=Lesotho Clippings |date=1982 |publisher=Documentation and Publications Division, Institute of Southern African Studies, National University of Lesotho |language=en}}</ref>

==== Liberia ====
Poets laureate for the Republic of [[Liberia]] have included [[Roland T. Dempster]], [[Melvin B. Tolson]] (1947), and [[Patricia Jabbeh Wesley]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJQuAgAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of African Peoples |date=2013-11-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96341-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Melvin B. Tolson {{!}} Kansas City Black History |url=https://kcblackhistory.org/articles/melvin-b-tolson |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=kcblackhistory.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Liberia's Poet Laureate, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, to present at Shenango {{!}} Penn State University |url=https://www.psu.edu/news/altoona/story/liberias-poet-laureate-patricia-jabbeh-wesley-present-shenango |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=www.psu.edu}}</ref>

==== Libya ====
[[Libya]]-born [[Callimachus]] was appointed as an imperial court poet to [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=الوسط |first=بوابة |title=كاليماخوس القوريني.. شاعر ليبي الموطن |url=https://alwasat.ly/news/art-culture/46707 |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Alwasat News |language=ar}}</ref>

==== Madagascar ====
Poets laureate of [[Madagascar]] include [[Jacques Rabemananjara]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfIuAAAAMAAJ |title=Foreign Service Journal |date=1967 |publisher=American Foreign Service Association |language=en}}</ref>

==== Malawi ====
Poets laureate of [[Malawi]] include [[Jack Mapanje]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Immink |first=Bodo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSsWAQAAIAAJ |title=From Freedom to Empowerment: Ten Years of Democratisation in Malawi ; Proceedings of the Conference Held from 4th to 6th June 2003 at Capital Hotel, Lilongwe |date=2003 |publisher=Forum for Dialogue and Peace, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Malawi-German Programme for Democracy and Decentralisation, National Initiative for Civic Education |isbn=978-99908-58-26-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Mali ====
Poets laureate of [[Mali]] include Ban Sumana Sisòkò.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Austen |first=Ralph A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnxj5k40y7UC |title=In Search of Sunjata: The Mande Oral Epic as History, Literature and Performance |date=1999 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-33452-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sisòkò |first=Fa-Digi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5pkAAAAMAAJ |title=The Epic of Son-Jara: A West African Tradition |date=1986 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-31951-7 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Mauritania ====
Mohamed Ould Taleb was appointed as the official court poet during [[Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz]]'s presidency in [[Mauritania]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=الشاعر محمد ولد الطالب : يشرفني ان اكون شاعر بلاط الرئيس محمد ولد عبد العزيز .. |url=https://www.bellewarmedia.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8-%D9%8A%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=بلّوار ميديا : BellewarMedia |language=ar}}</ref>

==== Mauritius ====
Poets laureate of [[Mauritius]] include [[Édouard Maunick]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toorawa |first=Shawkat M. |date=2001 |title=Is Multiculturalism Bad for Art?: Carl de Souza's La Maison qui marchait vers le large and the Mauritian City |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/264331/summary |journal=L'Esprit Créateur |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=197–206 |issn=1931-0234}}</ref>

==== Morocco ====
In the 13th century, [[Abdelaziz al-Malzuzi]] was the court poet of [[Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq]]. During the 16th-17th centuries in [[Morocco]]'s history, [[Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali]] was appointed as the poet laureate of the Sultan [[Ahmad al-Mansur]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Landau |first=Rom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnTWAAAAMAAJ |title=Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat |date=1967 |publisher=Elek |isbn=978-0-236-30866-8 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Niger ====
[[Burkina Faso]]-born Boûbacar Tinguidji, a Fula ''maabo'', was appointed as the court poet of the [[Songhai people|Songhai]] chief Mossi Gaidou in [[Dargol|Dargol, Niger]].<ref name=":1" />

==== Nigeria ====
Poets laureate of [[Nigeria]] include [[Obo Aba Hisanjani]] and [[Niyi Osundare]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sesan |date=2018-06-04 |title=For Ayo Banjo, Nobel prize dream for Osundare |url=https://punchng.com/for-ayo-banjo-nobel-prize-dream-for-osundare/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Punch Newspapers |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>FEATURE: Inside Niyi Osundare's book of truth as trouble. (2024, May 30). ''Premium Times (Abuja, Nigeria)''. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: <nowiki>https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/1996441716A07330</nowiki>.</ref> [[Mamman Jiya Vatsa]] was the inaugural poet laureate of [[Abuja|Abuja, Nigeria]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AlBAQAAIAAJ |title=The African Guardian |date=1986 |publisher=Guardian Magazines |language=en}}</ref> [[Tanure Ojaide]] was the Poet Laureate of the [[Niger Delta]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moolla |first=F. Fiona |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jZjDwAAQBAJ |title=Natures of Africa: Ecocriticism and animal studies in contemporary cultural forms |date=2016-06-01 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-86814-914-8 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Rwanda ====
During the 18th century in [[Rwanda]]'s history, Semidogoro was the official court poet of [[Mibambwe III Mutabazi II Sentabyo]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mani |first1=Rama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fs-oAgAAQBAJ |title=Responsibility to Protect: Cultural Perspectives in the Global South |last2=Weiss |first2=Thomas G. |date=2013-03-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-66121-1 |language=en}}</ref> Sekarama was the official court poet during the reigns of [[Kigeli IV Rwabugiri]] and [[Mutara III Rudahigwa]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vansina |first=Jan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgT-lyk40agC |title=Antecedents to Modern Rwanda: The Nyiginya Kingdom |date=2005-03-09 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-20123-4 |language=en}}</ref> Poets laureate of [[Rwanda]] include Edouard Bamporiki Uwayo.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pressley-Sanon |first1=Toni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rl7fCgAAQBAJ |title=Raoul Peck: Power, Politics, and the Cinematic Imagination |last2=Saint-Just |first2=Sophie |date=2015-12-03 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-9879-7 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Senegal ====
Poets laureate of [[Senegal]] include [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] and [[Robert Hayden]] (1966).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Léopold Senghor {{!}} Senegal's 1st President & Poet Laureate {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leopold-Senghor#:~:text=L%C3%A9opold%20Senghor%20(born%20Oct.,of%20the%20concept%20of%20Negritude.&text=Senghor%20was%20the%20son%20of%20a%20prosperous%20Serer%20planter%20and%20trader. |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Buck |first1=Christopher |title=Hayden, Robert |date=2017-09-26 |url=https://oxfordre.com/literature/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-485?d=/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-485&p=emailAQvt8bhiEF6yY |access-date=2024-09-13 |language=en |doi= |isbn=978-0-19-020109-8 |last2=Smith |first2=Derik |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature}}</ref>

==== Sierra Leone ====
Poets laureate of [[Sierra Leone]] include the Italian authors [[Roberto Malini]] and [[Dario Picciau]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Redazione |title=La Sierra Leone conferisce a Roberto Malini e Dario Picciau le onorificenze di Poet Laureate e Artist Laureate |url=http://www.dazebaonews.it/italia/societa/item/37518-la-sierra-leone-conferisce-a-roberto-malini-e-dario-picciau-le-onorificenze-di-poet-laureate-e-artist-laureate.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227024333/http://www.dazebaonews.it/italia/societa/item/37518-la-sierra-leone-conferisce-a-roberto-malini-e-dario-picciau-le-onorificenze-di-poet-laureate-e-artist-laureate.html |archive-date=December 27, 2015 |access-date=December 26, 2015}}</ref>

==== South Africa ====
In the 19th century, Magolwane kaMkhathini Jiyane was the court poet of [[Shaka|Shaka Zulu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3ECEAAAQBAJ |title=African pasts: Memory and history in African literatures |date=2018-09-30 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-3079-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Limb |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8G99Vp9q1UkC |title=Grappling With the Beast: Indigenous Southern African Responses to Colonialism, 1840-1930 |last2=Etherington |first2=Norman A. |last3=Midgley |first3=Peter |date=2010-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-17877-9 |language=en}}</ref> During the 10th century, David Livingstone Phakamile (Yali-Manisi) was the poet laureate of [[Kaiser Matanzima]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGiffin |first=Emily |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HpzDwAAQBAJ |title=Of Land, Bones, and Money: Toward a South African Ecopoetics |date=2019-07-18 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-4277-3 |language=en}}</ref> Poets laureate of [[South Africa]] include [[Mazisi Kunene]] (2005), [[Keorapetse Kgositsile]] (2006), and [[Mongane Wally Serote]] (2018– ).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-09-22 |title=Mazisi Kunene, 76, South African Poet Laureate, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/obituaries/22kunene.html |access-date=2024-08-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-07 |title=South African Literary Awards winners announced—Mongane Wally Serote is South Africa's new Poet Laureate |url=https://readinglist.click/sub/south-african-literary-awards-winners-announced-mongane-wally-serote-is-south-africas-new-poet-laureate/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=The Reading List}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Keorapetse Kgositsile |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/keorapetse-kgositsile |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=The Poetry Foundation}}</ref>

==== Sudan ====
During the 1800s in [[Sudan]], Al U'aysir was the court poet (''inqīb'') of the [[Ja'alin tribe]] King [[Mek Nimr]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hillelson |first=S. |date=1949 |title=CLASSICAL REMINISCENCES IN POPULAR LITERATURE |url=https://sudanarchive.net/?a=d&d=SNRV19490000-01.1.301&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN%7CtxTI%7CtxAU----------- |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=Sudan Notes and Records}}</ref>

==== Tanzania ====
Poets laureate of [[Tanzania]] include Saadani Kandoro (1969).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Akyeampong |first1=Emmanuel Kwaku |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ |title=Dictionary of African Biography |last2=Jr |first2=Professor Henry Louis Gates |date=2012-02-02 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-538207-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Molony |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDE3BAAAQBAJ |title=Nyerere: The Early Years |date=2014 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-84701-090-2 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Tunisia ====
During the 10th century, [[Muhammad ibn Hani al-Andalusi al-Azdi]] was appointed as the chief court poet to the [[Fatimid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Mu'izz]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Najar |first=Brahim |date=2003 |title=Poetry in the Muslim West: second to fifth/eighth to eleventh centuries |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134304 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org}}</ref> Also, in the 10th century, [[Ali ibn Muhammad al-Iyadi]] was the court poet of [[Fatimid caliphs]] [[Al-Qa'im (Fatimid caliph)|al-Qa'im]], [[Al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah|al-Mansur]], and [[Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah|al-Mu'izz]]. Poets laureate of [[Tunisia]] include Qasim Shabi.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K9ZDAAAAIAAJ |title=Iqbal Review |date=1969 |publisher=Iqbal Academy |language=en}}</ref>

==== Uganda ====
Poets laureate of [[Uganda]] include Akena Adoko.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IxDM3jd9NYgC |title=The Tablet |date=1971 |publisher=Tablet Publishing Company |language=en}}</ref>

==== Zimbabwe ====
Ginyilitshe Hlabangana was the official poet laureate (or ''Imbongi YeNkosi'') for the [[Mthwakazi|Ndebele Kingdom]] (now called [[Matabeleland|Matabeleland, Zimbabwe]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Msindo |first=Enocent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgT8exI3DmUC |title=Ethnicity in Zimbabwe: Transformations in Kalanga and Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990 |date=2012 |publisher=University Rochester Press |isbn=978-1-58046-418-5 |language=en}}</ref>