Sometime in 2007, I was among the few people selected to participate in the inaugural creative writing workshop facilitated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, and journalist, Jason Cowley. Then, it was sponsored by Fidelity Bank. It was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of my writing career. I’ve watched the yearly event grow in leaps and bounds, feature remarkable writers from across the world, and transform into the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop.
Calls for applications to the 2012 edition have now been made. Writers get set; prune, polish, and send in your best pieces. Below is the statement released by Farafina Trust indicating the writers who would teach at the workshop, and submission details.
The 2012 Farafina Trust creative Writing Workshop
Farafina Trust will be holding a creative writing workshop in Lagos, organized by award-winning writer and creative director of Farafina Trust, Chimamanda Adichie, from August 14 to August 24 2012. The workshop is sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc. Guest writers, including the Caine Prize-winning Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, and Jeffery Allen, will co-teach the workshop alongside Adichie.
The workshop will take the form of a class. Participants will be assigned a wide range of reading exercises, as well as daily writing exercises. The aim of the workshop is to improve the craft of Nigerian writers and to encourage published and unpublished writers by bringing different perspectives to the art of storytelling. Participation is limited only to those who apply and are accepted.
Submission Details
All material must be pasted or written in the body of the e-mail. Please DO NOT include any attachments in your e-mail. Applications with attachments will be automatically disqualified. The deadline for submissions is June 25 2012. Only those accepted to the workshop will be notified by July 31 2012. Accommodation in Lagos will be provided for all accepted applicants who are able to attend for the ten-day duration of the workshop. A literary evening of readings, open to the public, will be held at the end of the workshop on August 24, 2012.
How to Apply
Send an e-mail to Udonandu2012@gmail.com. Your e-mail subject should read: ‘Workshop Application.
The body of the e-mail should contain the following:
1. Your name
2. Your address
3. A few sentences about yourself
4. A writing sample of between 200 and 800 words. The sample can be either fiction or non-fiction.
