The first Pfumo Collective cohort will be hosted at a special event in Accra, Ghana, on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
In January, the Pfumo Collective, led by legendary publisher Ellah Wakatama, was unveiled to spearhead access to the mentorship and editorial support that more established literary economies afford nonfiction space in Africa.
Their first action was to announce a forthcoming workshop that would mentor the next generation of nonfiction writers from Kenya, South Africa, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Those who were selected in the first cohort were Adeowu Azeeza, Iweka Kingsley, Kareem Widad, Kona Bongani, Mahamoud Ali Faduma, Mudzonga Tawanda, Mugaa Dennis, Pius Ekemini, Sinivasan Santhea, Wolde Yordanos Tekleab, and Zabu Yvonne.
The workshop, facilitated by the all-male team of writer Emmanuel Iduma, author and New York University Accra director Chiké Frankie Edozien, multimedia artist, writer, and photographer Victor Ehikhamenor, and author Ike Echeruo, alongside the Pfumo team, has been running for the last ten days. The Goethe Institut-funded workshop includes a research day with access to The Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD).
The Pfumo collective will host a free cultural event featuring the mentors and facilitators alongside Pa Gya and Writer’s Project director Martin Egblewogbe in conversation with Emmanuel Iduma on ‘War and Memory | How What We Capture Defines What We Remember.’ The event, which is part of the collective’s commitment to enriching the communities into which they host their workshop, will be at the Goethe Institut on Saturday, June 21.
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