Writers from Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana storm Ebedi for residency
Three female writers from Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria have arrived Iseyin, Oyo State, for the April-May 2017 session of the Ebedi International Writers Residency.
Kenyan writer Gloria Mwaniga will share the residence for six weeks with Ghanaian Cecilia Sefa Amoafowaa and home girl Nana Abdulqadir.
Mwaniga, who is a graduate of the University of Nairobi, is a freelance writer with the Nairobi based Nation newspaper and the East African newspaper. She is the author of two children’s books with Moran Publishers (2013 and 2014) as well as the author of a soon to be published paper titled “Reconstruction of Womanhood in 21st Century Narratives for FEMRITE.” She also has been featured in two poetry anthologies, ‘Fresh Paint’ by Goethe Institut and Amka Space for Budding Writers2010 and 2015. A Certified Script writer and Adjudicator at the 2015 Kenya Schools Drama Festival, Mwaniga has also written numerous arts and culture articles. Her soon to be published short story, BOYI was shortlisted for the Writivism Prize. She will use her time at Ebedi to complete a new novel as well as understudy the art of weaving Aso Oke by the Iseyin weavers with the hope of imparting her knowledge to students in Iseyin and Nairobi.
Cecilia Sefa Amoafowaa, who holds a degree in English from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, is a teacher at the Tamale Senior High School, Tamale, Ghana. Currently the Vice President of the Ghana Association of Writers in the Northern Region, Cecilia is also the author of the book, Poetry Excursion on an African Mind (2014) which was selected for study for the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 academic year at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She has also published an online novel entitled Secondary Rhythms.
Amoafowaa, who is also a newscaster on Bishara Radio and a regional newscaster on Savannah Radio in her native Ghana, is also the President of the Ghana based Autism Help Foundation, will work on her autobiography and another poetry collection during her residency. She will also mentor Iseyin students in the art of story-telling and the preparations of some Ghanaian dishes.
The third writer, Nana Aisha Abdulqadir who is a native of Niger State is a student at the College of Education, Minna. She has attended many writers conferences and workshops and has had a stint as a presenter on Niger State Television.
During her stay in Ebedi, Aisha will complete work on her debut novel and a poetry collection. She will also mentor Iseyin students in the art of Public Elocution as well as teach them some Hausa and Fulani songs and dance.
About 80 African writer have been hosted at the residence including Ayobami Adebayo, a 2016 Ebedi Fellow, whose novel, Stay With Me, was recently shortlisted for the 2017 Bailey Women’s Prize for Fiction.