We were very proud to be nominated for South Africa’s Outstanding Publisher Award at the National Arts and Culture Awards, held on Friday 21 August at Sun City.

The South African government does many things that can make it challenging to run a publishing business. On this occasion, I want to thank the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for such fulsome recognition. It validates the hard work that our poets put in during 2025, our tenth year of publishing books. It was difficult to describe my feelings when I saw uHlanga’s name on SABC 1 (pictured).

Congratulations to the winner of the award, Jacana Media, and thank you to Sihle Ntuli for being uHlanga's man on the ground.

I want to thank all the people who have made these journeys possible. Thank you to all the talented poets I have published, and to all of you who have submitted your treasured work to me, even if I could not publish it. Thank you to the editors, translators, proofreaders, and interns (Chelsea and Maya) who have contributed to 50 or so books we've published since 2015. Thank you to our printers, distributors and marketers; to the couriers who brave the roads; to the booksellers who order in our books and keep them in stock; to the National Library of South Africa; to every artist who has ever let us license their work; to the reviewers and editors of publications who keep a space open for poetry in or on their pages; to the judges who honour our poets with awards, and the archivists who keep our documents on file; to the institutions that have supported us and the institutions that we have been proud to support.

Thank you to my friends and family. A special thank you to Jenny, Francis, Karina, Douglas and Megan.

Most of all, thank you to uHlanga's readers. Without you, there would be no point in publishing books. We are privileged to have an audience.

– Nick Mulgrew