As part of its African Languages and Translation Programme, The Africa Institute, located in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, opens applications for its third cohort of the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-In-Residence Fellowship for the 2024 Academic Year.
The residency programme welcomes applications from creative writers including novelists, short story writers, playwrights, poets and scriptwriters related to Africa and the African diaspora for a grant of 45,000 AED (about £9,773) in total. The proposed project can be in Arabic or English, though other languages will be considered.. The residency invites recipients to Sharjah, UAE for a period of three months to complete their work. Typically the cohort begins in Autumn of every year.
Recipients will have the opportunity to publish their texts through The Africa Institute’s publications programme. Projects relating to theatre and film scripts can also be published as texts or receive support in facilitating productions. The project could be new or a work-in-progress, and should be feasible for completion within the timeframe of the residency.
All applications will be reviewed by The Africa Institute through a committee of peers of well-known writers. Three recipients will be chosen based on the quality of their proposal, and the demonstrated feasibility of completion within the timeframe of the residency.
Applications must include:
- CV/résumé of the applicant
- A two-page narrative of the project to be undertaken during the residency period, its significance, and a proposed completion date.
- A sample of published or unpublished writings.
The deadline to submit is Saturday 1 June, 2024.
To submit applications, compile all application materials; CV/résumé, two-page narrative and writing sample (in case of a book, please attach separately) into one PDF file in the mentioned order. Please name the file with the residency title abbreviation and the applicant’s name in the format TOCWRP_LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME. Use the same name in the email subject and send the PDF as an attachment to applications@theafricainstitute.org.
This residency programme is created in honour of the late Nigerian Professor Tejumola Olaniyan and his remarkable intellectual legacy in the field of African literature and critical theory. Olaniyan, a Nigerian academic, was the Louise Durham Mead Professor of English and African Cultural Studies, and the Wole Soyinka Professor of the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin. His primary research interests focused on Africa and its diaspora, African-Americans, the Caribbean, African literature, criticism, post-cultural studies, history, theory and the sociology of drama and pop culture.
Established in 2018, The Africa Institute is an interdisciplinary academic research institute dedicated to the study, research, and documentation of Africa and the African diaspora. The Institute’s curriculum of postgraduate studies is designed to train the next generation of critical thinkers in African and African diaspora studies. It strives to do this via international symposia and conferences, visual art exhibitions and artist commissions, film and performance series, community classes and outreach events.
Find out more about the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-In-Residence Fellowship, here.