Writers in Residence Program
virtual residency for Young People who live and write in Africa
Please note that the Writers in Residence Program is not accepting applications at this time.
Incubating African Writers who tell African Stories
Tell us your story. Tell us about the experiences you’ve lived, seen, and heard about from those around you. Make it familiar, make it weird. Make it uncomfortable yet soothing, like the feeling you get when you scratch an itch. What a beautiful story.
Let’s help you get it out into the world. From your lips to the ears of people far and near. We’ll help you create new stories. We’ll help you open new doors. Join our community of writers who support, grow, and challenge each other to tell authentically African stories in a new way.
What kind of work are we looking for?
We are looking for submissions that push the bounds of language and indigenous stories. Stories that make us feel Nostalgic.
What does it mean to really represent African thought in English?
What does it mean to expand local folklore, proverbs, and riddles through your writing?
If your work is linguistically innovative, if it plays on commonly told stories, or if it sits on the fringe of familiar and new, it’ll be a great fit.
The fine print
Each year, we choose up to three African writers based on the continent to incubate and mentor through our competitive program. In the space of three months (12 weeks), each writer will produce six short stories which we will publish in print. In addition, each writer will receive mentorship and guidance towards one future writing goal; this could be help with an application to a writing fellowship or degree program, submission of an additional manuscript to a different publisher, or even support with an application to a writing competition. As such, the residence program will be intense and will require at least 20 hours of work each week. Each writer will be paid a competitive stipend each month during the program.
