Writer Wesley Macheso, who is also University of Malawi Associate Professor has made it to the 2023 International Writing Programme (IWP) Fall Residency, which runs from August 19 to November 4 at the University of Iowa in United States of America.
The IWP is the oldest and largest multinational writing residency in the world.
With a tradition of excellence that has continued for over five decades, the IWP annually brings outstanding authors from every continent to the University of Iowa, a major American research institution internationally renowned for its writing programmes.
Macheso, who won the Peer Gynt Literary Award spearheaded by Malawi Writers Union for his children’s book Akuzike and the Gods in 2017, is the only Malawian writer on the list.
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Twice shortlisted for the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship and long-listed for the 2015 Short Story Day Africa Prize, Macheso, who leaves this weekend, said he was excited to be part of the programme.
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“I am grateful for this opportunity. It is a win for local writers,” Macheso, who is also The Daily Times columnist, wrote on his Facebook page.
The writer, who is the author of A Masquerade of Spirits (2020) and his poems are included in the 2020 anthology Wreaths for a Wayfarer and in journals on-line, said he wants to utilise this opportunity to complete a novel and hopefully secure a publishing deal.
“The residency will also be of benefit to my career as a lecturer to creative writing at the University of Malawi. The collaborations will be a big push forward,” he said.
His participation has been made possible by the US Department of State, courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
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Macheso adds to the list of Malawian writers who have passed through this writing programme and they are Edson Mpina (1982), Professor Steve Chimombo (1983), Steve Sharra (1997), Shadreck Chikoti (2019) and Muthi Nhlema (2021).
He is among the few writers from Africa who have made the list.
The other African writers on the list include Soonest Nathaniel from Nigeria, Busisiwe Mahlangu from South Africa, Enah Johnscott from Cameroon and Mansoura Ez-Eldin from Egypt.
According to information on the IWP website, since 1967, over 1,500 writers from more than 150 nations have taken part in the IWP’s Fall Residency.
The goal of IWP is to provide authors with a one-of-a-kind intercultural opportunity and the time and space to write, read, translate, study, conduct research, travel, give readings, stage work, and become part of the vibrant literary and academic community at the University of Iowa and in Iowa City, the first American city designated as a Unesco City of Literature.
Each year, IWP brings together 30 to 35 of the world’s emerging and established writers to participate in the programme.
