Table of Contents
About the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship 2024
The Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship for the academic year 2024 applications are now open, and The Africa Institute is inviting creative writers to apply for this opportunity. This fellowship is part of The African Languages and Translation Program and is designed to celebrate the remarkable intellectual legacy of the late Nigerian Professor Tejumola Olaniyan, who was a renowned academic and a leading figure in the field of African literature and critical theory.
Prof. Tejumola Olaniyan was a distinguished scholar and held the Louise Durham Mead Professor of English and African Cultural Studies and the Wole Soyinka Professor of the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Ife in Nigeria and went on to complete another master’s degree and his Ph.D. at Cornell University. He had a keen interest in the African diaspora, African Americans, the Caribbean, African literature, criticism, post-cultural studies, history, theory, and the sociology of drama and pop culture.
To honour his intellectual legacy, The Africa Institute has established the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship. The fellowship is a three-month residency program for creative writers, and it offers a grant of 45,000 AED in total. The residency invites recipients to Sharjah, UAE, and is scheduled to begin in the fall of every year.
The Africa Institute has assembled a committee of peers that comprises well-known writers, and all applications will be reviewed by this committee. The evaluation criteria will be based on the quality of the proposal, the demonstrated feasibility of completion within the residency’s timeframe, and the potential impact and significance of the work.
This is the third cohort of the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship, and applications are now open. If you are a creative writer interested in this opportunity, we encourage you to apply and be part of this fellowship.
Benefits of the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship 2024
- The publications program of The Africa Institute will provide recipients with the chance to publish their texts.
- Possibility of networking with peers who share similar interests.
- Scripts for movies and plays can also be published as texts or have production assistance provided for them. It should be possible to finish the project within the residency period, regardless of whether it is brand-new or a work-in-progress.
Eligibility Criteria
We highly encourage applications from talented creative writers who specialize in various forms of writing, such as novelists, short story writers, playwrights, poets, and scriptwriters. The focus of the project should be related to Africa or the African diaspora. The proposed project can be written in either Arabic or English, although we are open to considering other languages as well. We look forward to receiving submissions from writers who are passionate about exploring African themes and narratives through their work.
How to Apply
As part of the application process, applicants are required to submit several documents. These include a CV or résumé, a two-page narrative outlining the project that the applicant intends to undertake during the residency period, and a sample of their published or unpublished writings.
The two-page narrative should describe the proposed project and its significance, as well as the proposed date of completion. This document should be carefully crafted, as it will be used to evaluate the applicant’s suitability for the residency program.
Applicants are also required to provide a sample of their published or unpublished writings. If the applicant has written a book, they should attach a separate sample of their work.
To submit their application, applicants must compile all of the required materials into a single PDF document. The documents should be arranged in the following order: CV or résumé, two-page narrative, and writing sample. The PDF should be named in the following format: TOCWRP_LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME, where the residency title abbreviation is used as the first part of the file name, followed by the applicant’s last and first names.
Applicants should use the same file name in the email subject heading and send the PDF as an attachment to the provided email address. Please note that the application deadline is June 1, 2024.
Candidates also apply to:
Scholarship Opportunity: University of Adelaide Global Academic Excellence Scholarship 2024
Grants 2024: Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Biodiversity Media Grants
Graça Machel Trust: Women Creating Wealth Intergenerational (WCW-I) Edition 2024 For African Women
NNPC/TotalEnergies International Scholarship 2024 (Fully Funded)
