The Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship, also called the Morland Writing Scholarships or the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship is an annual financial scholarship awarded to four to six African writers to enable them write a fiction or non-fiction book in the English language.
Character and value
The grant is between £18,000 and £27,000 (fiction or nonfiction respectively), given over twelve to eighteen months to each chosen writer. The only requirements are that the writer submit 10,000 words every month and, if they ever get a book contract out of their writing output, donate 20% back to the foundation.
The award was established in 2013 by Miles Morland, a British citizen and philanthropist, through the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF), a UK registered charity which makes grants in areas reflecting its founder's interests.
It is one of the most prestigious writing scholarships on the African continent.
It is currently judged by three writers and publishers: Muthoni Garland,
Cassava Republic Press
Cassava Republic Press is a steering African book publishing company established in Nigeria in 2006 and headed by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, director
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, and ''
Brittle Paper
''Brittle Paper'' is an online literary magazine styled as an "African literary blog" published weekly in the English language. Its focus is on "build(ing) a vibrant African literary scene." It was founded by Ainehi Edoro (at the time a doctoral ...
'' deputy editor
Otosirieze Obi-Young
Otosirieze Obi-Young (born 1994) is a Nigerian writer, editor, culture journalist and curator. He is editor-in-chief of ''Open Country Mag'', an African literary magazine. He was editor of ''Folio Nigeria'', a CNN affiliate that covers Nigeria ...
.
Recipients
The prizewinners are as follows:
2013
*
Percy Zvomuya (South Africa) - non-fiction
*
Doreen Baingana
Doreen Baingana (born 1966) is a Ugandan writer and literary arts manager. Her short story collection, ''Tropical Fish,'' won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region ...
(Uganda) - fiction
*
Tony Mochama (Kenya)
2014
*
Yewande Omotosho (Nigeria) - fiction
* Ahmed Khalifa (Egypt)
*
Ndinda Kioko (Kenya) - fiction
* Simone Haysom (South Africa)
2015
*
Noo Saro-Wiwa
Noo Saro-Wiwa is a British-Nigerian author, noted for her travel writing. She is the daughter of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Education
Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and grew up in Ewell, Surrey in England. She attended ...
(Nigeria)
*
Bolaji Odofin (Nigeria)
*
Fatin Abbas (Sudan)
*
Karen Jennings (South Africa)
*
Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria) - fiction
2016
*
Nneoma Ike-Njoku (Nigeria)
*
Lidudumalingani Mqombothi (South Africa) - fiction
*
Ayesha Harruna Attah
Ayesha Harruna Attah (born December 1983) is a Ghanaian-born fiction writer. She lives in Senegal.
Early years and education
Ayesha Harruna Attah was born in Accra, Ghana, in the 1980s, under a military government, to a mother who was a journali ...
(Ghana)
* Abdul Adan (Somalia) - fiction
2017
*
Alemseged Tesfai (Eritrea)
*
F.T.Kola (South Africa)
*
Eloghosa Osunde (Nigeria)
*
Bryony Rheam (Zimbabwe)
*
Elnathan John
Elnathan John (born 1982) is a Nigerian novelist, satirist and lawyer whose stories have twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing.
Career
Elnathan John was born in Kaduna, in north-west Nigeria, in 1982. He attended Ahmad ...
(Nigeria)
2018
*
Edwige Renee Dro (Côte d'Ivoire)
*
Kola Tubosun
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a Nigerian linguist, writer, translator, scholar, and cultural activist. (Nigeria) - non-fiction
*
Sibabalwe Oscar Masinyana (South Africa)
*
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (born 1977) is a Zimbabwe-born novelist and filmmaker.
Background
She was born and partly grew up in the city of Bulawayo. A few months after she was born, Ndlovu's family moved to Sweden as political refugees, and this is w ...
(Zimbabwe)
2019
* Gloria Mwaniga Odari (Kenya)
*
Hawa Jande Golakai (Liberia)
*
Nnamdi Oguike (Nigeria)
*
Parselelo ole Kantai (Kenya)
References
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Scholarships
English-language literary awards
Fiction awards
African literary awards
Awards established in 2013