Flame Tree Writers, the new initiative from Abubakar Adam Ibrahim in partnership with Heinrich Böll Foundation, has made a callout for writers.
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim is the award-winning journalist and author of the novels Season of Crimson Blossoms (2015) and When We Were Fireflies (2023) and the short story collections The Whispering Trees (2012) and Dreams and Assorted Nightmares (2020). He won the Nigerian Prize for Literature, Africa’s largest literary prize in 2016 for his debut novel Season of Crimson Blossoms.
The Nigerian has announced the new initiative ‘Flame Tree Writers’ in partnership with the Heinrich Böll Foundation to support emerging writers in the craft of creative writing as a critical tool to introspect the present and imagine future potentials that will help to advance a more democratic, peaceful, gender equitable and socially just Northern Nigeria.
The first step is a call out for applications to a Writers’ Workshop for emerging writers from Northern Nigeria. This first edition is exclusively for writers from the 19 Northern States of Nigeria domiciled in the country, who must be between the ages of 18 and 35. Subsequent editions will include other geo-political zones of the country.
Speaking on the initiative, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, said, “This has been a passion project of mine for so long and I am excited that with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, it is coming to fruition. It’s not just a workshop but a project because, in the end, we are going to publish the stories from the workshop in an anthology of new writing and get them into institutions of learning where they will be taught as part of the growing and exciting corpus of literature from this part of the country.”
According to Ere Amachree, Program Manager, Rethinking Politics at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Abuja Office, the Foundation is excited about the Flame Tree Writers’ Project as it is passionate about promoting the writing culture of Heinrich Böll, whom the Foundation is named after, as a means of political expression and this project advances that vision.
Those who qualify get an all-expense paid five-day workshop to be co-facilitated by another NLNG Nigeria Prize-winning author, Chika Unigwe, in Abuja from June 24 – 28, 2024 in Abuja and participants will receive expert guidance in writing a short story suitable for publication in an anthology of new writing during this period.
Chika Unigwe is the author of numerous novels and short story collections like On Black Sisters Street (2009), Night Dancer (2012), Better Never Than Late (2019), and The Middle Daughter (2023). On Black Sisters’ Street won the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2012.
Interested participants are expected to meet set eligibility criteria, while female emerging writers are strongly encouraged to send in their applications. Applicants must send their submissions to: flametreewritersproject@gmail.com on or before June 1, 2024.
Leave a Reply