Writer, Mugaa Dennis, has been chosen as one of eight writers for a mentorship programme under the Pfumo Collective.
The programme called the Citizen project will take the form of in-person workshops, mentoring and, eventually, produce an anthology of the same name.
Speaking about his selection, Dennis Mugaa called it a “wonderful opportunity”.
“Being selected for this Pfumo project means that I’ll have the requisite support and technical knowledge imparted on me to enable me to complete my writing project,” Dennis said. “It is such a wonderful opportunity that I hope to utilise to the fullest.”
The collective received over 130 submissions across 37 African countries responding broadly to the question “What does it mean to be a citizen on the African continent today?”
In a statement, the organisation said that they had to increase the number of participants because of the sheer number of submissions.
“Getting to the final selection with such a range of strong submissions meant we increase our initial cohort number from 10 to 12, in order to accommodate the breadth of brilliance offered,” the statement read.
Dr. Billy Kahora, Project Partner and Editorial Consultant, shares that he felt energised by the submissions.
“African creative non-fiction is in rude health and I just can’t wait to collaborate with these amazing writers – what was so pleasing was the variety of style and theme as warrants the idea of Citizenship on the continent.”
Over the course of a 10-day intensive, fully-funded residential workshop in Accra, Ghana, the selected cohort of writers will benefit from the expertise of tutors and mentors who will support each writer in developing their proposal into full-length non-fiction pieces to be published in the Citizen anthology.
The inaugural cohort represents eight countries from across the African continent.
