Three promising Nigerian writers for Ebedi

The Ebedi Writers Residency in Iseyin, Oyo State will for the next six weeks be home to three Nigerian writers as Ehizogie Iyeoman, Ikechukwu Nwaogu and Servio Gbadamosi take their places in the residency.

Between September and October, 2016, the trio will have the opportunity to work on their manuscripts in the residence dedicated to writers, with their housekeeping needs taken care of alongside a weekly stipend provided for by the residency.

Edo-born poet, Ehizogie Iyeoman hopes to use the residency to complete his poetry collection, ‘Spring of Endless Songs’. Iyeoman is building a reputation as a poet with a mastery of language and imagery with his debut ‘Flames of Forest’ garnering commendable critical reviews.

The second writer, Ikechukwu Nwaogu from Abia is a writer and playwright who occasionally dabbles into poetry. His short fiction pieces have appeared on several online platforms. At Ebedi, Nwaogu hopes to continue work on his short story collection.

Servio Gbadamosi, didn’t have to travel far for the residency as he lives next door in Ibadan. The poet and culture and development practitioner captured imaginations with his debut poetry collection ‘A Tributary in Servitude’ which won the 2015 Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Poetry.

His works have also appeared online as well as in journals, newspapers and numerous anthologies.

At Ebedi, Servio will use the residency to “research, reflect and continue work on a new collection of poems titled, ‘From Northwind’.”

The three writers will also mentor secondary school students in Iseyin and environs in the area of creative writing, drama and public speaking.

They will be the most recent set of writers who have passed through the programme, which is in its sixth year. Some 75 writers from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroun, Ghana and Ivory Coast have been awarded the residency in the last six years.