The Miles Morland Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 Morland Writing Scholarships. They are:
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Akwaeke Emezi, Nigeria (Fiction): The Death of Vivek Oji – Emezi plans a novel in which a mixed race couple mourn the loss of their adult child who found murdered in the market place. What begins as a tale of loss becomes an investigation of sexuality, gender identity and intolerance.
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Karen Jennings, South Africa, (Fiction): The Harbour’s Breast – Jennings’ novel is a story of a lighthouse keeper on an island off the coast of an unnamed African country whose solitary life is changed by the arrival first of an injured man seeking refuge and then the body of a murdered woman that washes up on shore.
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Bolaji Odofin, Nigeria, (Fiction): Ye Gods – Odofin will write a novel in which the deities of Nigeria find themselves invaded by a new pantheon and mortals find themselves the pawns in a fight for their souls.
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Noo Saro-Wiwa, Nigeria, (Non-fiction): Saro-Wiwa’s book will focus on the lives of Africans who have chosen to live in China. It will shed light on relations between the Africans in this diaspora and the Chinese.
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Fatin Abbas, Sudan (Non-fiction): Fatin Abbas’ work will weave together personal narrative and an examination of contemporary Sudanese identity with an account of her country’s history of slavery.
The winners will each receive a grant of ₤18,000 for fiction and £27,000 non-fiction writers. The writers will take a year for fiction and a year and a half for non-fiction, allowing research. The awards was given based on the writers submissions which included a book proposal and an excerpt of published writing.
The Judges for this year were the Chair Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Olufemi Terry and Muthoni Garland.
The 2016 scholarships will be opened in June 2016. No entries will be entertained before then.
For further information about the Miles Morland Foundation or the Scholarships, please check the Miles Morland Foundation website or call Mathilda Edwards, the Foundation Secretary, on +44 20 7349 5030.