Launch your Writing Career with Jahazi Masterclass!
Jahazi Press is calling for Applications!
Applications are open 21 March 2022 to 15 April 2022
The Jahazi Mastercalss is an exciting, three-month online course designed and facilitated by Jahazi Press. It has been designed for upcoming writers, as well as diverse and established artists and professionals who are looking to come into fiction writing. This course aims to equip participants with the skills needed to develop, nurture and polish their fiction and creative writing skills, as well as meet other writers from different backgrounds. The participants of this course will have access to Jahazi’s custom curriculum; expert facilitation and mentorship from renowned writers; connection to key literary organizations based in Nairobi; an opportunity to perform their work at a reading event; as well as eventual publication of selected works in a print anthology by Jahazi Press. All successful participants will be eligible for attendance scholarships.
The inaugural cohort will include a maximum of 30 individuals who will be mentored through an expansive Jahazi-designed curriculum that entails narrative craft, editing, and the business of publishing. The course will be executed through six online workshops spread over a period of three months. Successful Nairobi based participants will be invited to two in-person classes with everyone else participating through virtual engagement. The workshops will be two hours long each.
The participants will have individual work and flexible engagements during the week, and meet on weekends with the facilitators and fellow participants for focused group work. During this period, the participants will also take a one month break where they will have the opportunity to polish their work, applying the skills acquired during the course before regrouping for one last class with the facilitators.
The Jahazi-designed curriculum will be executed with with professional facilitation from some of East Africa’s most renowned writers and novelists including; Billy Kahora, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, and Peter Kimani as well as guest facilitation from equally renowned writers that will be confirmed.
Who may apply?
This call out is open to individuals based in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan & Somalia. Priority will be given to first time authors.
All applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Be available to attend the classes for the entire duration of the course
- Have access to internet connection and a laptop / computer
- Have access to Zoom, the virtual meeting platform
- Submit a complete body of fiction or non-fiction work published or unpublished, between 2,500 – 3,000 words along with a short bio of not more that 300 words explaining their motivation for writing and joining the masterclass by the submission deadline.
The submissions will be reviewed by an expert panel to optimize for range of interests and voices in the cohort, place-based narratives, the ability to capture both clever occurrences and ordinary everyday life, and creativity.
Key Dates and Timeline:
March 21 – Submissions open
April 15 – Submissions close
May 10 – Final decision sent to applicants
May 13 – Applicants confirm participation
May 21 – Masterclass is launched
Dec 2022 – Anthology is published
NB: This course is FREE and will be offered in English. Late applications will not be considered.