The Africa Institute has announced the recipients of the 2025 Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship. The program, which honors the late Nigerian scholar and critic Tejumola Olaniyan, supports writers connected to Africa and the African diaspora. The fellowship offers a three-month residency in Sharjah, UAE, alongside mentorship and access to the Institute’s resources.
Davina Philomena Kawuma, a Ugandan writer based in Kampala, combines scientific expertise with literary creativity. A graduate of Makerere University in botanical and zoological sciences, she has worked in academic affairs and quality assurance at a private university in Kampala. Kawuma was a 2020 fellow at Cornell University’s Institute for Comparative Modernities and a 2022 fellow of the Suyi Davies Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors. Her recent publication, Rispekt A Fool to Avoid Noyze: Emboozi Z’omu Ttakisi Z’e Kampala, blends Ugandanized English, Englishized Luganda, and Luganda across experimental formats.
During her residency, Kawuma will work on Lamb White Days, a novel about a graduate assigned to collect stool samples for a multi-sectoral fecal analysis project investigating nomismaphagia, an emerging disease whose main symptom is the consumption of large amounts of money. The story is told through diaries, medical reports, social media posts, court documents, emails, memos, and other traces of bureaucracy.
Leila Aboulela, a Sudanese writer based in Scotland, is the author of six novels, including River Spirit, Bird Summons, and The Translator (a New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year). Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Aboulela is Honorary Professor at the WORD Center at the University of Aberdeen, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and the 2025 PEN Pinter Prize winner. She was also the first winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000.
During her residency, she will develop a short story set in 1920s Cairo about a Southern Sudanese teenager enslaved by a belly dancer, exploring memory, displacement, and cultural identity.
Sofia El Khyari, born in Casablanca, is an award-winning artist, director, and animator whose work blends handcrafted animation with poetic narratives. She holds Master’s degrees in Cultural Management and Animation from Bordeaux Business School and the Royal College of Art, London. Her films have been screened at nearly 200 festivals worldwide and are exhibited in galleries such as the Musée du Quai Branly and the Institut du Monde Arabe. She founded Oneiris Animation, Morocco’s first production company dedicated to auteur animation.
During her residency, El Khyari will work on the screenplay for her debut feature film, Shehrazade’s Birds, set in 1950s Casablanca under the French protectorate, inspired by her family history and exploring the intersection of cinema and resistance.
The selected writers will be in residence in Sharjah, UAE, where they can develop their projects with the support, guidance, and mentorship of The Africa Institute. The fellowship also offers potential publication, allowing fellows to share their perspectives and contribute to Africa’s literary landscape. The Institute thanks all applicants for their talent and creativity and remains committed to fostering a diverse and thriving literary ecosystem.
The Africa Institute has announced the recipients of the 2025 Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship. The program, which honors the late Nigerian scholar and critic Tejumola Olaniyan, supports writers connected to Africa and the African diaspora. The fellowship offers a three-month residency in Sharjah, UAE, alongside mentorship and access to the Institute’s resources.
The Africa Institute has announced the recipients of the 2025 Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship. The program, which honors the late Nigerian scholar and critic Tejumola Olaniyan, supports writers connected to Africa and the African diaspora. The fellowship offers a three-month residency in Sharjah, UAE, alongside mentorship and access to the Institute’s resources.
Davina Philomena Kawuma, a Ugandan writer based in Kampala, combines scientific expertise with literary creativity. A graduate of Makerere University in botanical and zoological sciences, she has worked in academic affairs and quality assurance at a private university in Kampala. Kawuma was a 2020 fellow at Cornell University’s Institute for Comparative Modernities and a 2022 fellow of the Suyi Davies Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors. Her recent publication, Rispekt A Fool to Avoid Noyze: Emboozi Z’omu Ttakisi Z’e Kampala, blends Ugandanized English, Englishized Luganda, and Luganda across experimental formats.
During her residency, Kawuma will work on Lamb White Days, a novel about a graduate assigned to collect stool samples for a multi-sectoral fecal analysis project investigating nomismaphagia, an emerging disease whose main symptom is the consumption of large amounts of money. The story is told through diaries, medical reports, social media posts, court documents, emails, memos, and other traces of bureaucracy.
Leila Aboulela, a Sudanese writer based in Scotland, is the author of six novels, including River Spirit, Bird Summons, and The Translator (a New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year). Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Aboulela is Honorary Professor at the WORD Center at the University of Aberdeen, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and the 2025 PEN Pinter Prize winner. She was also the first winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000.
During her residency, she will develop a short story set in 1920s Cairo about a Southern Sudanese teenager enslaved by a belly dancer, exploring memory, displacement, and cultural identity.
Sofia El Khyari, born in Casablanca, is an award-winning artist, director, and animator whose work blends handcrafted animation with poetic narratives. She holds Master’s degrees in Cultural Management and Animation from Bordeaux Business School and the Royal College of Art, London. Her films have been screened at nearly 200 festivals worldwide and are exhibited in galleries such as the Musée du Quai Branly and the Institut du Monde Arabe. She founded Oneiris Animation, Morocco’s first production company dedicated to auteur animation.
During her residency, El Khyari will work on the screenplay for her debut feature film, Shehrazade’s Birds, set in 1950s Casablanca under the French protectorate, inspired by her family history and exploring the intersection of cinema and resistance.
The selected writers will be in residence in Sharjah, UAE, where they can develop their projects with the support, guidance, and mentorship of The Africa Institute. The fellowship also offers potential publication, allowing fellows to share their perspectives and contribute to Africa’s literary landscape. The Institute thanks all applicants for their talent and creativity and remains committed to fostering a diverse and thriving literary ecosystem.
Subscribe to our mailing list and get the latest news from The Africa Institute
