At long last, the Miles Morland Foundation has announced its shortlist for the 2018 Morland Writing Scholarships. Twenty talented writers were selected from a pool of over 500 applicants. Writers were selected from Kenya, South Africa , Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

The twenty shortlisted writers will be invited to attend the prestigious Miles Morland creative writing workshop early next year.

Here’s what the organizers wrote in their press release:

Choosing the shortlist seems to get harder every year. We had fewer bad entries this year and the good ones are exceptionally good. We had over 550 entries, our highest number to date, with writers applying from 27 countries. Miles Morland commented, “I can’t think of anywhere else in the world that could produce a shortlist with such energy, imagination and originality. I’d like to see more of the humour for which countries like Nigeria are famous but apart from that the shortlist has just about everything, an astonishing variety.”

The judges will review the applications on the 20th of Novemberto select the Miles Morland awardees for 2018. The judges are, Ellah Allfrey from Zimbabwe, Olufemi Terry from Sierra Leone and Muthoni Garland from Kenya. The overall winners will be announced shortly after their meeting.

The 2018 shortlist is as follows:

Heran Abate – Ethiopia

Pwaangulongii Dauod – Nigeria

Edwige Dro – Cote D’Ivoire

Dare Segun Falowo – Nigeria

Muthoni Gichuru – Kenya

Shubnum Khan – South Africa

Jacqui L’Ange – South Africa

Idza Luhumyo – Kenya

Sibabalwe Masinyana – South Africa

Marcelle Mateki Akita – Ghana

Howard Me-Bug – Cameroon

Pulane Mpondo – South Africa

Wairimu Muriithi – Kenya

Siphiwe Ndlovu – Zimbabwe

Olufunke Ogundimu – Nigeria

Makena Onjerika – Kenya

Mary Ononokpono – Nigeria

Yovanka Paquete Perdigao – Guinea – Bissau

Hassan Santur – Somalia

Kola Tubosun – Nigeria

Congratulations to all the writers who made the shortlist. If you didn’t make the shortlist, do not despair. You can start writing your novel nonetheless. You never know where it might lead. Don’t be discouraged. Keep writing.

We will keep blogging about other scholarships and opportunities for writers.

Forward all inquiries to Mathilda Leigh on: [email protected]

Picture credit: The Miles Morland Foundation website

 

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