Four female writers made up of three Nigerians and one Ugandan have arrived at the Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State for their six-week residency from October to November 2015. They are Victoria Sylvester, Fiyinfoluwa Akinsiku, Erumena Amata and Juliet Kushaba.
A professor of English and current Head of Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Abuja, Sylvester, is from Benue State. A distinguished scholar with several published articles to her name, Prof. Sylvester’s published creative works include Zuma Rock and Other Poems, Inikpi Om’Idoko (a play) and Long Shadows (a novel). She will be spending her time in Ebedi to complete a new work of fiction.
The second writer Akinsiku is from Ondo State. Her non-fiction and short stories have appeared in The Punch, The Sun, Sabinews.com, Nigerians Talk.com and ‘Our Ram Is Haram’ – Naija Stories Anthology 2012. Akinsiku recently completed her first full-length manuscript and plans to work on a collection of ten short stories during the residency.
A native of Delta State Amata had her first and second arts degrees from the Universities of Jos and Lagos. Amata’s writing experience spans over 25 years and includes documentary scripts for television and radio, television drama scripts, jingles and commercials for radio and television, adverts for newspapers and magazines, and creating and designing programmes for television. Majority of her works have been published not in print but in video and broadcast form. She hopes to use her time in Ebedi to complete a film/movie script, Raindrops which has to do with the plight of OVCs – children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
The Ugandan writer, Kushaba, works with the Ugandan Female Writers Association (FEMRITE) as a Programmes Officer. She has published a number of short stories, poems and essays. Most of Kushaba’s works carry themes of social change. In 2013, she was the First Runner-up for the prestigious Morland Writing Scholarship Award. She also serves on the steering committee for African Women Writers Initiatives Network (AWWINET), a network with over 12 African women writers’ initiatives. Kushaba is in charge of Strategic Planning for the Network. She holds a first degree in Education and is currently pursuing a Masters in Women and Gender Studies from Makerere University. Just like Akinsiku, KUshaba will also be working on her new short stories collection while in Ebedi.
