Dr. Hugh Ellis is a Namibian poet, writer, and Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. In 2018, he earned his PhD in media studies from the University of the Witwatersrand; has published papers on media and public culture in several academic journals. 

Hugh is also the author of Hakahana, his collection of poems. While it was active, Hugh was one active in Spoken Word for over two decades, becoming one of the most recognised poets in the country. 

In 2021, his poem “Yoga” was published in Doek! Literary Magazine and was accompanied by a film by Ondjaki. In 2025 he was shortlisted for the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Award for Fiction for his short story “Flesh Of The Sun.”

More from and about Hugh Ellis-Mwiya: “Marginalised Namibians Are Trying To Reclaim Photography After Colonialism” (The Conversation) • “Spoken Word Poetry Challenges Gender-Based Violence In Namibia” (The Conversation) • “Taking My Wife’s Surname Struck Me As Logical” (The Namibian)