Thursday, December 31, 2009

From the Bookaholics With Love...

“The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake. The five most important words: You did a good job. The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion? The three most important words: If you please. The two most important words: Thank You. The one most important word: We. The least important word: I.” -Author Unknown


This is a thank you note to all readers of Bookaholic for making 2009 a fabulous 'Bookaholic' year. Since we started in February 2009, we've had over 19,000 hits and 74 followers.Thank you for sticking with us from our very first post to this very post.

Thank you for taking time to read the interviews, despite their length. Thank you for glancing through some pieces that seemed to 'lose you' at some point. Thank you for taking part in our debates, that don't come so often. Thank you for trusting those links enough to visit; and for telling us when they were broken. Thank you for enduring with us when we made promises we couldn't keep. Thank you for showing us every single mistake that we made--it was an opportunity for a better post. Thank you for being there to tell us your opinion, for whom do we write if we don't know what you think? Every single comment on this blog is valued. Thank you for visiting despite all. Most importantly, thank you for allowing us focus on you even as we share our love for books.

As a new year beckons, is there anything you'd like to see on this blog? Do you have any suggestions to make Bookaholic a better haven for book lovers? Feel free to let us know. Happy 2010!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

What's Hot Now...

This holiday is time to get away. Yes, away from work and everything that makes our lives monotonous. Well, before work (and life) resumes. Life is real good lazying around with a cold glass (of anything) and a good book. Or reading stuff online that make you chuckle (now that's away from all the comic relief about dear president and the failed suicide bomber!). That's what the holiday allows us. Here are some online literary magazines you can read even as you plan 2010.

While you enjoy Saraba, you can also read interesting articles the Maple Tree Literary Supplement here. It has an interesting response to Chimamanda's 'Danger of a Single Story' here.  African Writing Issue 8 also has real good pieces to last you this break. Well, that's what's hot right now. Enjoy!!!

NB: You can also check their submissions tab (on the websites) for info if you'd like to be part of these projects!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Here Comes Saraba IV...

Saraba Magazine has suceeded in making a name for itself in literary circles--issue after issue.  Here's Issue IV, please download a free copy of the electronic magazine from the website. You can also download previous issues and the new poetry chapbook (Of Rhythm and Reason with an Introduction by Niran Okewole).

And of course, Saraba Mag is fast becoming the budding writer's hub. You can consider submitting your pieces to them next year. They have their themes and deadlines all spelt out. The first issue would be in March and would focus on The Niger Delta (which we are so looking forward to!). The issue hopes to explore the crossroads between the arts and this much talked about place. Entries for unsolicited fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, creative essays, new journalism, reviews and interviews would close on January 31, 2010. Feel free to visit the website for more information on this.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas

We'll keep it short today!

Christmas for us at The Bookahlolic Blog is about sharing love which we believe is the reason for the season. God's ultimate expression of His love was sending Jesus to redeem us from sin.

So whether or not you got a new dress or book, we hope that you'll enjoy today by sharing love to everyone you meet. Even during one of the wars, the soldiers put down their guns and enjoyed a game of footie.

Want something bookish today? The story of the birth of Jesus recorded in the Bible.

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Books and Christmas

We recently came across an interview with several authors talking about the books and Christmas in O magazine. Here is our take.

Dad-an inspirational or self help book.

Mum-a little compact book on life and love.

Sister-Enid Blyton girls classic.

Brother-adventure book or comic strip.

Grandma-books on cooking, quilting, sewing and all manners of crafts.

Grandad-history, geography and science titles.

Friend-a joke book.

We hope this helps make your Christmas shopping a tad easier!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Books and Movies

Every now and again, don't you watch a great film and then find out it was adapted from a book?

You immediately rush out and get a copy of the book to fill in the gaps, answer niggling questions or find out how much is the Hollywood factor. Sometimes it is the other way round, you read the book and then go and see the movie. Many people become polarised on one side of the Books vs Movies debate, other times you are able to appreciate both for what they are. Here are a few books that have been turned into movies, let us know what you think about them and other titles that might tickle your fancy.

The Color Purple


The Notebook


Imitation of Life


Twilight


Romeo and Juliet

What better way to enjoy the festive season with a movie and its accompanying book?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

What Matters Now...

We don't know if you've seen it yet. But here's a lovely e-book. There are so many things about it: creativity at its best, collection of the best of short pieces from different people and hey people, it's free. Enjoy some quotes from the book here:


"Art can’t happen without someone who seeks to make a difference. This is your art, it’s what you do. You touch people or projects and change them for the better." Seth Godin

"Until Fear is gone, (and realize he may never completely leave) make the decision to be courageous. The world needs your story in order to be complete.''Anne Jackson

"Dignity is more important than wealth. It’s going to be a long, long time before we can make everyone on earth wealthy, but we can help people find dignity this year (right now if we choose to)"Jacqueline Novogratz

"If not excellence, what?" Tom Peters

"Education has a ripple effect. One drop can initiate a cascade of possibility, each concentric circle gaining in size and traveling further. If you get education right, you get many things right: escape from poverty, better family health, and improved status of women. Educate a girl, and you educate her children and generations to follow" John Wood

"Storytelling is powerful. It helps us understand, make choices and can inspire us."Alisa Miller


Here's the link to What Matters Now.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Myne "Mends Our Hearts"

Myne Whitman takes us into the "tickling" world of romance with her new book A Heart to Mend, which beckons us into Gladys' open future as she meets Edward with a closed past. Now that's too simplistic for a novel that's more than romance as you need to find out what's closed and what's open. Good it takes us away from the stories we are almost tired of reading; those ones that weigh us down with a certain sense of responsibility or pessimism (as the case may be). Not that there's anything wrong with that. What I am saying is that it's necessary fresh air.

Am I generalising? Okay how many love stories written by Nigerians (Africans) have you read this year? Oh you tell me there are more pressing issues peculiar to Africa--poverty, corruption, power play, wars and more pressing ones like President Yar' Adua's health. True, but don't forget that there are still love stories here too. It's good to read something different. Some may say it's ideal to think about love amidst all these but love (romance) still exists against all odds.

Alright away from my rant, take a sneak preview of the novel here.

Also expect an interview with Myne on Bookaholic soon. It's in the works!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Readings this Weekend...

Toni Kan and Teju Cole have published stories (Nights of the Creaking Bed and Every Day is for the Thief) about Lagos, the city that makes people with nine lives. They'll be talking on Saturday. More details:
Date: Saturday, 19th December
Time: 4pm
Venue: Quintessence, Falomo Shopping Centre, Ikoyi

And a Christmas Bookfest...
Trilogy Book Lounge (TBL), mobile bookstore and rentals invites you to the end of year Christmas book fest on Sunday 20 December. TBL hopes to make you read. Laugh. Love. Live.
Venue: 40 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Guest: Jude Dibia

More reasons to be there--autograph signing session, blow-out discount rates, refreshments and of course some gifts (Xmas is in the air!). For more information, email trilogybooklounge@gmail.com or call/text 08099553924 (to get an invite and confirm participation)

The Writer
Prize winning author, Jude Dibia, reads from his novels and short stories. Jude was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He has a B.A in Modern European Languages (German) and works in the aviation/travel sector. Visit Jude's blog here. Read a Bookaholic interview with him here.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Our Favourite Websites of 2009

One of the advantages of the internet is that you can read and read until you are tired of reading. Overtime, we have developed great love for some websites for different reasons. Do you have any fav literary sites? Any interesting websites we should know about? You can add to the list. There are loads more but here are ten of our favourite websites:

African Writer: This is the budding writer's hub for literature from Africa. There seems to be a preference for Nigerian literature though. One of the websites you should consider submitting you works to. Who knows? You can be published on African Writer.

Postal Poetry: Simple and beautiful website with poetry post cards. A good site to lazy around with good poems.

Language Hat: Read about different essays about impressions and issues about different languages. Here's their favourite rave review: "Evidence that the internet is not as idiotic as it often looks. This site is called Language Hat and it deals with many issues of a linguistic flavor. It's a beacon of attentiveness and crisp thinking, and an excellent substitute for the daily news."

Literature Training:  This is the writer's zone when it comes to submission news, professional development (as a writer), jobs and opportunities, funding of every kind. Not forgetting their e-newsletter. In short, it's a site for every writer-in-training.

Sentinel Poetry: Good poetry, Sentinel Competitions and things just got hotter with the Sentinel Nigeria Online.

StoryMoja: Kenyan and very African website for up-to-date literary gist from that end. They always come up with very interesting ways to make literature accessible--from competition news, to prompt writing contests, events news, advice for writers and of course the free stories. I so love the accessible web layout.

African Cities Reader: I am always thrilled by African cities. This tells us different things at the same time. On the website, it says "In many senses African cities are amongst the most generative and vibrant places on the planet. Yet, we know next to nothing about what goes on in the places. Not that there is any shortage of caricature, hyperbole or opinion about what makes African cities such quintessential spaces of dystopia and atrophy. We believe that a range of interventions that seek to engage the shape-shifting essence of African cities are long overdue and present this modest initiative as one contribution to a larger movement of imagination to redefine the practical workings of the African city."

Chimurenga:  Staying true to their slogan 'Who no Know go Know'. Trust me, you just need to read parts of their issues, past and present online. And of course buy them. Chimurenga boasts of high quality writing. And quite fun to read.

3Quirks Daily: Visit this website for interesting reads from around the web on a daily basis. And this isn't limited to literature but science, design, literature, current affairs, art, and anything fascinating. They stay true to giving you a one-stop intellectual surfing experience!
 
Poets and Writers: Poets and Writers will take you from inspiration to publication. There are articles to read from various websites; you have a comprehensive guide to getting an MA; and there are tools for writers. This website should be bookmarked on your computer.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Lagos Meets Abuja

Now all Bookaholics based in Abuja should be excited. You can hang out with Teju Cole, author of Everyday is for the Thief. This is most definitely going to be fun...we were at the reading at CCA with Jumoke Verissimo so we know a lil already. So where would you rather be?

The Writer
Teju Cole is a writer and photographer currently based in Brooklyn. He has worked as a cartoonist, dishwasher, lecturer, gardener and haematology researcher. His writing has appeared in various journals in Nigeria and the US. Every Day is for the Thief is his first novel. He also writes a regular column on Next. And famous for his Letters to a Young Writer (which we think all budding writers should google, read and re-read).

The Book
A young man decides to visit Nigeria after years of absence. Ahead lies the difficult journey back to the family house and all its memories; meetings with childhood friends and above all, facing up to the paradox of Nigeria, whose present is as burdened by the past as it is facing a new future. Along the way, our narrator encounters life in Lagos. He is captivated by a woman reading on a danfo; attempts to check his email are frustrated by Yahoo boys; he is charmingly duped buying fuel. He admires the grace of an aunty, bereaved by armed robbers and is inspired by the new malls and cultural venues. The question is: should he stay or should he leave?

The Reading
Venue: Pen and Pages Bookshop Plot 79, Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, White House, Wuse 11
Date: Monday 14th December (Tomorrow).
Time: 6pm
Pass: FREE entry (Yippie...you don't have to pay!)

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Travel Writing Contest

Been anywhere you found so interesting or significant? Writing about your experience can win you something. Read on.And don't ask me for the prize, it seems it's the opportunity to be published.

Homestead Publishing, exclusive publishers of travel literature, will release an Anthology of Travel Writing on Nigeria in 2010.  As such management has instituted a Travel Writing contest open to all Nigerians, home and abroad, who have a travel story to share.

Rules

  • All subjects will be considered: destination profiles, sight-seeing and recreation trips, festivals, coronations, recollections of place, vacation spots, historical and architectural landmarks, and so on. 
  • All submissions, however, must be engaging, descriptive and factual, fun-to-read and engaging; the travelogues and narratives must also reflect a sense of place. 
  • Submissions should be at least 1000 words long but must not exceed 2,000 words. Poems are excluded from this contest. 
  • Entrants may submit more than one story. And all such stories may either be already-published pieces or previously unpublished. 
  • A panel of three non-fiction writers will sieve through all submissions and select the best 25 entries for the proposed anthology. 
  • Competition open to all Nigerians who can communicate their thoughts effectively in writing 
  • Entries to be typed (single spacing) on A4-size MS Word page. 
  • Submissions must include a short bio of the author, title of submission, address (physical and email), sex and telephone numbers. 
  • Homestead Publishing retains the right to edit and publish all/ a selection of short listed entries on its website (www.journeysaroundnigeria.net), magazine and its future publications. Writers will, of course, retain copyrights to their entries. 

Deadline: All entries must reach us on or before 30th January 2010.
Send your submissions to: editor_mails@yahoo.com OR publisher@journeysaroundnigeria.net
For enquiries call: +234 803 973 2757

Thursday, December 10, 2009

So you ITCH to be a writer?

Now this is a call for submissions by ITCH Online, an unusual but creative online expression for art of diverse forms. Learn more about how you can be part of their latest call for submissions here. Maybe ITCH Online would temporarily stop that itch to be a writer, who knows? Wait a minute, can the itch to write stop?

Artists working in any medium and writers expressing themselves in any form or genre are invited to submit work for the fifth issue of ITCH Online. The "theme" is: ?

What the ???? Questions are marked by a sign that can furrow the brow and send the mind on a mission for answers. Be they rhetorical, theoretical, existential, practical, emotional, educational or mundane, questions surround our lives and saturate the experience of being human.

Why? When? Where? How? Whom? What?

Sometimes we ask these things and sometimes we do not. When do we ask these things and when do we not? How and why are questions expressed, how and why are they not? What are your big questions and little mysteries? What are the one-word answers, the lengthy diatribes, the evasions and explications that accompany the queries and uncertainties that dog your experiences?

ITCH allows you the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to interpret this 'question' theme in any way that you wish--to speak to or against it, to explore or ignore it, with words, sounds and/or images. And of course, in all forms--Poetry, prose, essays, book reviews, short stories, unclassifiable writing, photography, graphic design, sound art, visual work, animations, short films, drawings, paintings, and more...

Deadline: 15 January 2010.

Full guidelines here.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

BBC African Performance Playwriting Competition 2010

In 2010, BBC would be celebrating 50 years of African drama. As usual there's the yearly playwriting competition. Guess who will be judging the 2010 African Performance Competition shortlist? Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. And that's more reason to get imagination working and sit down real tight to write that award-winning script.

Winning authors will be paid a rights fee of £1000, £850, £650 or £500 depending on where their play comes in the competition.  They will also have their play produced and aired on the BBC World Service

Click here for more information.

The deadline for entries is midnight on February 15th 2010

Monday, December 7, 2009

African Literature Association Grant

GUIDELINES
The African Literature Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the establishment of an ALA Travel Grant Award of $3,000 to be awarded to three members of the ALA traveling from Africa to the ALA Conference. This is the fourth year of the award.

Eligible applicants should demonstrate:scholarship, financial need and ability to supplement grant award.

ALA Travel Grant Applications must include the following documents:
  • A 2 page cover letter including title and abstract of conference paper
  • to be presented at ALA conference;
  • A 2 page Curriculum Vitae or résumé (including ALA travel grant awards received within the past three [3] years , teaching and/or research experience and interests, professional meetings/conference s attended, dates, place and titles of papers presented, current university affiliation, if applicable
  • Two letters of recommendation. Each letter should be no more than 2 pages, and should include contact and brief biographical information of recommender. Recommender CV or résumé not needed.
Deadline: December 30, 2009. Go here for more info.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

"A writer is a person who writes"--Petina Gappah

Petina Gappah just won the Guardian First Book Award. Congratulations Petina! Here she reveals what she calls the secret to success.This was first published on her blog. Very interesting to read, not forgetting the real helpful advice. If you didn't see it on her blog, I advise that you read, re-read and pick real important lessons.

Do you want to be a writer? Then read this, because here, I reveal the secret to success!

I have been getting a lot of emails and Facebook messages from people who want to write. A lot of people want to know what the magic thing is that you have to do to be a writer or get published. Is it the right agent? Luck? How do you get the right agent? The right publisher? How do you get a publisher? Others ask me to read their work or write introductions to their books. The most recent email I got was from a guy who said he had been working on his novel for years, and wanted to know at what point he should stop.

I cannot always review people's work; when I have time, I am happy to do it because I love editing, I love it when I can help someone make their work better. I used to be very active on the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, and one of the thrills was when I lit upon a story that showed promise, and I helped to make it sing. I am also happy to recommend writers to my agent, she does not take many new people, however, so I will only do this when I feel the writer has a reasonable chance to be taken on. I was delighted earlier this year when she took on someone I consider one of the most talented writers I have read and whom I had recommended to her.

But it is easy to give this sort of guidance to people who have something in the hand, easy to recommend them to an agent, easy to help them make their work better so that it is accepted by an agent. A lot more people just want to know how they can be "real" , and that word keeps coming up, how they can be "real" writers. It is to these aspiring writers that I now reveal the secret to writing success.

Write.

That's it.

Just write.

A writer is a person who writes.

Talent is overrated. Luck is overrated. The right agent is overrated. It helps to have all three, but they are all worthless without that thing in your hand, the manuscript, the thing in your hand that may become a book for which trees will die and that will be published and primped and pampered and put on bookshelves and paid for by people.

And this is what is underrated: the sitting down and grinding it out part. Because that is what writing is. You, at your computer or with your notebook, writing, and writing, revising and writing, and revising again.

As Henry Fielding says, examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts, so let me introduce you to two of my writing friends.

Meet Zoey and Xavier. They live in two different countries, one is tall and fat, the other is short and thin, one is black and blue, the other is yellow and green, one has a low but loud laugh, the other a high but quiet one ... they could not be more different to each other. They have this in common though, they are both outrageously, ridiculously talented at turning out a sentence. Xavier, is, quite frankly, one of the most musical writers you will ever read, his is the kind of writing that flows into itself and then out at you ... like Pachelbel's Canon in D, it wraps itself around your head and enters your blood stream and speeds up your heart rate. If his writing could be patented, it would cure heart disease. Zoey has a brain larger than the Grand Canyon, she can generate ideas faster than your nearest McDonald's churns out Happy Meals, she is brilliant and brain-buzzingly original.

Xavier has written a couple of stories. Zoey has published three stories, including one that was chosen in an internet poll as the best story to be published on the internet in the last 1000 years. It was that good. Both of these writers were headhunted by agents. This was 7 years ago.

They have not written much since then.

What have they been doing in those 7 years? Well, Xavier had a bit of a set back when he applied to the creative writing programme at Iowa and didn't get in. It took him more than three years to recover from the disappointment. In fact, he is still recovering. Zoey fell in love, but not with Xavier, even though they were in love with each other's minds. She got marrried, she had a baby, and then fell out of love and then had a divorce. Then her country collapsed and she spent all her time writing angry, brilliant and brain-buzzlingly original short essays about that. Then she set up a blog and wrote short but brilliant and brain-buzzingly original posts about the chaos of her life. In between, Xavier and Zoey sent each other emails mocking those who had published books. Xavier was inspired by these emails to set up a blog in which he reviewed, usually scathingly, books published by other writers, concentrating his vitriol particularly on writers who had been on the Iowa writing programme.

The clunkiness of the prose, exclaims Xavier!

And talk about passé, says Zoey.

You would be so much more original, Xavier says to Zoey.

And you can write better than that in your sleep, says Zoey.

They could do so much better, they agree.

Well, maybe.

Possibly.

Very likely, in fact.

Except they won't.

They won't do better and they haven't written anything better because they haven't written at all.

A writer is a person who writes.

So, this is the answer in its beautiful and stark simplicity. You can have all the talent in the world, but this is nothing if you do not actually write.

So write. Just write.

The rest can take care of itself, but without that thing in your hand, that manuscript that could be a book, that thing in your hand that comes only after hours of sitting down and doing it, you will never give yourself the chance to be a "real" writer.

Just write.

Because a writer is a person who writes.

That is the beginning of everything

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Must-Attend Events


Venue: Agip Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos

Show Times: Friday, December 4, 2009  3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 6, 2009 | 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Tickets: N6,000 General Admission, N7,500 Box Seating, N4,000 Children (age 12 and under) - Must be purchased at the door i.e., at venue at time of the event

Tickets are available at: 
abOriginal productions
Call/Text 07023389642 08023799842 017415688
info@aboriginal-productions.com | www.oluronbi.com | www.aboriginal-productions.com

MUSON Centre - Box Office
Onikan, Lagos

Silverbird Galleria
Occasions Gift Shop
Ahmadu Bello Way,Victoria Island, Lagos

Alliance Francais
01-8911341 01-8911337-8

Ticket Delivery: If you live or work on the Island, we'll deliver to you. Call Emmanuel at 07023389642 or 08023799842 for arrangements

Reclaiming Africa--Gerald Chukwuma's Art Exhibition
Goethe-Institut Nigeria and the African Artists' Foundation present new works of Gerald Chukwuma. The Nsukka-born artist sets himself apart by using new ways of creating his artworks. He is rooted in traditional painting styles but instead of using canvas, he uses wood panels, which give his works a distinct structure.

Date: December 5, 2009. The exhibition runs till December 18; Mon.-Fri.: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Venue: Goethe Institut Gallery

Book Presentation--Art in Public Space
Two art projects with several Nigerian and German artists, conducted by Emeka Udemba, reshaped public spaces in Lagos: “Lagos Open” (2005) transformed an entire street in Ajegunle into an artwork and “In God We Trust” (2008) saw an artistic reinterpretation of two churches in Mushin. These projects dealt with issues like contemporary society, life in the mega city and the role of faith in Lagos. To share these events with an even broader audience, Emeka Udemba and Goethe-Institut Lagos present the comprehensive catalogue “Transforming Public Space. Two Art Interventions in Lagos”. This publication contains in words and pictures a broad and colourful overview about the realization of the projects and the participating artists.

Date: 12/12/2009  Time: 4:00pm
Venue: Goethe-Institut Nigeria, Gallery

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

CNN Africa Journalist Award&The Nordic Africa Institute Residency...

The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Competition is the most prestigious Award for journalists across the African Continent. Its objective is to reinforce the importance of the role of journalists in Africa’s development and to reward, recognise and encourage journalistic talent across all media disciplines.

Who can enter:
You must be an African National, working on the continent for African owned, or headquartered, media organisations. Your work must have appeared in printed publications or electronic media that is primarily targeted at and received by an African audience.

What the judges are looking for:
Our panel of independent, highly respected and experienced judges are in pursuit of excellence. They will be looking for entries which:

  • Tell the story in a balanced, comprehensive and objective manner
  • Demonstrate journalistic integrity and resourcefulness
  • Communicate the story in a way that makes the topic accessible and relevant to their audience
  • Display well organised research and insight
  • Was broadcast or published, in English, French or Portuguese only, between January and December 2009 with proof supplied
Look here for more information.

Nordic Africa Institute Residency Opportunity
The Nordic Africa Institute invites applications and nominations for a three-month grant as African Guest Writer at the institute in the latter half of 2010 (September through November). The application should reach the institute by 31 December 2009. Nominations should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 30 November 2009. The selection committee will announce its decision by 20 March 2010.

Previous Guest Writers
The Nordic Africa Institute has previously hosted four Guest Writers, Ama Ata Aidoo from Ghana, Gabeba Baderoon from South Africa, Tolu Ogunlesi from Nigeria and Shailja Patel from Kenya. These Guest Writers have added in a very positive way both to the dialogue and interchange at the institute itself, and have given a new dimension to its interface with various groups and audiences in the Nordic countries.

Purposes
The purpose of the grant is threefold:
  •  Firstly, to provide an opportunity for writers to concentrate on their work during their stay.
  • Secondly, to facilitate readings to audiences in Sweden, and one or two other Nordic countries by visits to those countries. The itinerary is negotiable, but should include at least one other Nordic country – Norway, Denmark, Iceland or Finland. The guest writer of 2010 will also be required to participate in the Gothenburg book fair in September, which has Africa as its focus.
  • Thirdly, to allow the guest writer to interact with researchers, guest researchers and other staff and visitors at the Nordic Africa Institute, hence contributing its intellectual and cultural atmosphere.
Qualifications
  • Applicants must have some documented record of writing, with at least some published work. The applicant must be able to express herself/himself in English, although this does not have to be the language she/he writes in. We encourage young writers to apply.
  • The application must include name, full contact details (residential address, telephone and e-mail), a curriculum vitae or a summary thereof, including a list of previous writing and performances, a freely worded explanation of why the grant appeals to the applicant, and two references – including their contact details. 
  • The application must include up to (but not more than) three works by the applicant in English, French or Portuguese, preferably in published format. The works may be originally written in other languages, but they must have been translated into one of the three languages mentioned. There are no application forms for this grant. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
Deadlines
Nominations must reach the Nordic Africa Institute by 30 November 2009.
Applications must reach the Nordic Africa Institute by 31 December 2009.

More information here.