Good news! Farafina Workshop is being rebooted with a new name!

For the almost two years, literary fans were left in the dark about one of the most popular workshops in Africa. Good news! The Farafina Workshop is being rebooted under a new name!

Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop was founded with the aim of improving the craft of writers and bringing different perspective to the art of storytelling. The workshop, with the help of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has brought together a group of twenty to thirty people from all over Africa, mostly Nigeria, every year for eight years, after its launch in 2008, but went dark in 2017 when their sponsors, Nigerian Breweries PLC (NB PLC), abruptly withdrew their sponsorship due to a need to streamline their expenditure.

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Things got a little more complicated when the internationally acclaimed author left Kachifo, a Farafina print, where she had published all her novels, to join Narrative Landscape press, a new publishing outfit set up in 2017, not as a publishing house but as a “publishing logistic service provider.” The company was set up by two ex-Farafina staff, Eghosa Imasuen, who is also a Farafina author and was its managing editor until recently, and former Farafina editor, Anwuli Ojogwu.

Adichie has announced the return of her annual baby, the Farafina creative writing workshop, with a new and exciting partnership.

The return of the workshop

The workshop is now sponsored by Trace Nigeria, and will run from November 20 to November 30, 2018.This announcement was made at a press conference held today in Lagos.

“The workshop, which is currently in its 11th year, will continue to provide me the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the writing community in Nigeria. It will also serve as a platform for writers to learn from one another and from established writers,” Chimamanda Adichie stated.

Sam Onyemelukwe, Managing Director of Venator Partners/Trace Nigeria, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She is an inspiration to youth in Africa and around the world; and through her art, she not only entertains: but challenges stereotypes and kindles conversations that would often otherwise not be had. This corresponds with the Trace mission to engage and inspire urban and Afro-Caribbean youth through news, entertainment, arts, lifestyle and culture.”

The workshop, formerly known as the Farafina Trust Creative Writing workshop is now to be called the Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop.

The workshop has graduated over 200 participants, many of whom have become published writers and editors.

She teaches the workshop alongside other established writers who are invited. Past co-teachers include Poet laureate of Scotland Jackie Kay, British-Malaysian writer Tash Aw, and American novelist Dave Eggers.

Applications will be via email to purplehibiscus2018@gmail.com. The email subject should read ‘Workshop Application’. The body of the email should contain the following; your name, address, a few sentences about ‘yourself’ and a fiction or non-fiction writing sample between 200-1,000 words.

Applications for the workshop will be open from September 24 until October 15, 2018. The final shortlisted applicants will be notified on November 7, 2018 while the workshop kicks off November 20, 2018.

The organisers have added that accommodation will be provided for all accepted applicants in Lagos for the 10-day duration of the workshop.

The author is also set to receive a Barnes & Noble award for her efforts in helping other writers through the workshop. This will make her the second African to receive this award.

We hope you are ready to send in your submissions!