African Writers Development Trust

African Writers Development TrustFormation| 2018

|

Founder| Anthony Onugba
Founded at| Abuja Nigeria
Type| non-governmental organization

The African Writers Development Trust (AWDT) was founded in Abuja Nigeria in 2018 by Anthony Onugba,[1] who currently serves as the Executive Director. Its aims to empower writers of African descent through cross-cultural learning, capacity building and sharing of creative ideas. Other goals of the trust include; to promote writers by providing publishing grants, educational grants, to promote the African reading culture, and to conceptualize grassroots programs and projects aimed at bringing writers together.[2]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Management
* 3 Activities
* 3.1 Writers Space Africa Magazine
* 3.2 African Writers Conference
* 3.3 African Writers Awards
* 3.4 Wakini Kuria Award
* 4 Programs
* 4.1 Writers Mingle
* 4.2 Writers Residencies
* 5 References

## History[edit]

African Writer’s Development Trust was founded in May 2018 by Anthony Onugba and registered as a non-governmental organization in Abuja, Nigeria. It is open to writers of any form of literature irrespective of their economic, religious, cultural, tribal, national, political or philosophical orientation

## Management[edit]

African Writers Development Trust is headquartered in Abuja with an office in Nairobi, Kenya. The organization is run by a board of Trustees. The current chairman of the board is Prince Saka Dbosz Junior. Other members of the board are Nahida Esmail, Halieo Motanyane, Benny Wanjohi, Edith Magak, Nyashadzashe Chikumbu, and Anthony Onugba.[3]

## Activities[edit]

The organization publishes the monthly Writers Space Africa Magazine, it also runs the annual African Writers Conference. As well, the organization funds and administers the annual African Writers Award, and the Wakini Kuria Award for Children’s Literature

### Writers Space Africa Magazine[edit]

WSA magazine[4] is a monthly African digital literary magazine publishing writers of African descent. The first edition was published in January 2017. The Magazine has interviewed writers including Sabah Carrim, Manu Herbstein, Nahida Esmail, Nsah Mala, Alexander Nderitu, Emeka Nobis, Sandra Oma Etubiebi, Lubacha Deus, Meaza Aklilu and Tom Odhiambo.

### African Writers Conference[edit]

The African writers' conference is an annual writers event conceptualized by the African Writers Development Trust.

The first conference was held in December 2018 at the Abuja International Conference centre in partnership with the Association of Nigerian Authors.[5] The Chairperson of the conference was Her Excellency, Hadiza Elrufai, the First Lady of Kaduna State. [6]Notable partners of the conference included Pearson, Art Moves Africa (AMA), MTN Nigeria, UNESCO.[7]

The second conference was held in September 2019 at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with the Writers Guild of Kenya and the Nairobi International Book Fair.[8] The chairperson was Lawrence Njagi, Kenya Publishers Association Chair. [9]

### African Writers Awards[edit]

The awards were created in 2018. The prize winners for the categories of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry are announced during the African Writers Conference awards dinner.[10] Past winners include Manu Herbstein, Benson Mugo, Priscillar Matara.[11] During the dinner, awards are also presented to individuals who have contributed to the development of the African Literary space; some of the past winners include Khainga O O’kwemba, Jackson Biko Zulu, Halima Usman, Dr. Tom Odhiambo.

### Wakini Kuria Award[edit]

The Wakini Kuria Award for Children's Literature[12] was established in 2019 and honours the memory of Wakini Kuria, who died at the age of 26. She served on the Advisory board of the African Writers Development Trust and also served as the Chief Editor of Writers Space Africa magazine. The winner of the 2019 award was Marjorie Moono Simuyuni from Zambia.

## Programs[edit]

### Writers Mingle[edit]

The writers mingle is an event that brings writers from different African countries to socialize with the writers while discussing the development of the African literary space The first edition of the Writers Mingle was held on September 2019 at Strathmore University,[13] Kenya and had writers from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, USA, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. The second edition was held in March 2020 in partnership with the Goethe Institut with writers from Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mauritius, and Nigeria.

### Writers Residencies[edit]

The 2019-2020 residency was funded by Culture at Work Africa[14] and co-funded by the European Union. In the first edition hosted in Abuja, it had writers from West and Central Africa.[15] The second edition was hosted in Nairobi and had writers from East and Southern Africa[16]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "AWDT Founder Interview". DAILY NATION. Daily Nation. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
2. ↑ "What We Do". African Writers Development Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
3. ↑ "About Us- Board". AfricanWritersDevelopmentTrust. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
4. ↑ "Writers Space Africa Magazine". WSA. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
5. ↑ "2018 African Writers' Conference In Abuja, Nigeria". mysterypublisherslimited.com. Kenya. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2020. `{{cite web}}`: `|archive-date=` requires `|archive-url=` (help)
6. ↑ Abdullahi Tsanni (18 November 2018). "Maiden African writers' conference on girl-child holds in Abuja November 30". African Newspage. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
7. ↑ "African Writers Conference To Debut In Abuja". NATHANIEL BIVAN. Daily Trust. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
8. ↑ NATHANIEL BIVAN (26 January 2019). "African Writers Conference 2019 To Take Place In Kenya". Daily Trust. Daily Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
9. ↑ "African Writers Conference 2019". African Leadership Magazine UK. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
10. ↑ "2019 African Writers Awards shortlist". BellaNaija.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
11. ↑ "Submission Opens for 2019 African Writers Awards". Premium Times. allAfrica. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
12. ↑ "The Wakini Kuria Awards for African Literature". youthhubafrica.org. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
13. ↑ James, Murua. "Writers Mingle at Strathmore University". James Murua Literary. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
14. ↑ "Pen Pen Residency; Second Call Subgrantees". CultureAtWorkAfrica. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020. `{{cite web}}`: `|archive-date=` requires `|archive-url=` (help)
15. ↑ "African Writers Development Trust trains writers". Nigeria: MetroDaily. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020. `{{cite news}}`: `|archive-date=` requires `|archive-url=` (help)
16. ↑ "AWDT African Writers Residency 2019 for African Writers (Fully-funded)". AfterSchoolAfrica. Retrieved 26 August 2020. `{{cite web}}`: `|archive-date=` requires `|archive-url=` (help)

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