Literary Laddership Fellowship for Emerging African Authors 2025

Deadline: April 30, 2025

Applications are open for the Literary Laddership Fellowship for Emerging African Authors 2025. The Literary Laddership Fellowship, founded by Suyi Davies Okungbowa in 2022, is now accepting applications for its fourth edition. This virtual fellowship supports emerging African fiction writers by providing a $500 grant, a three-month virtual residency, and access to a community of practice.

Fellows will have the opportunity to write, improve their craft, connect with other writers, and explore publication opportunities. Some past fellows have gone on to win awards and be featured in publications, further strengthening the mission of this fellowship.

Benefits

• $500 Grant: Paid out monthly to support your creative endeavors.
• Digital Residency: A three-month virtual residency providing time, space, and resources to create new work or complete an existing one.
• Community of Practice: Access to a private online community of fellows and other emerging authors alongside writing professionals sharing craft lessons, best practices, and creating new knowledge.
• Publishing Ecosystem: Support with submission and publication of your work, including guidance on various publishing routes and access to publishing professionals.

Eligibility

• Open to emerging authors of African descent, primarily based on the African continent, and writing in English.
• Applicants must be aged 18 and above.

Judging Criteria

An anonymous, independent team of judges will assess all applications and sample writing based on the following criteria:

• Storytelling: Applicant’s story is compelling on both story and craft levels. Characters, plot/narrative arc, setting, description, dialogue, point-of-view, voice/tone/mood—all/most are at high levels of quality and/or demonstrate mastery of these storytelling elements
• Language and story structure: Applicant’s writing is compelling and confident at the sentence and structural levels, and demonstrates that the applicant is a keen student of language use and storytelling craft
• Style/Approach/Themes: Applicant’s work is risky, subversive, crosses borders and/or attempts to bring something new/fresh/different to the literary field, without being gimmicky
• Genre: Applicant demonstrates clear understanding and mastery of the requirements and conventions of the sub-genre of fiction in which they’re writing
• Project plan: Applicant demonstrates their suitability and preparedness for the requirements of the fellowship, and has a clear plan for project completion

Application

To apply, submit the following information to [email protected]. (Kindly ensure that no name or identifying information is present in the submission documents/materials. Such information may be present in the email body).

• Cover letter: In the email body, briefly describe your basis for meeting the eligibility criteria.
• Writing sample: A sample of 3,000 words max (doc, docx, pdf), across 2 different works, split however the author wishes. They will receive any kind of work, but excerpts from a lengthy work-in-progress (novel or novella) are recommended over shorter fiction (flash, short stories, novelette). Do not send in one work of 3,000 words. Judges would like to see how authors work across different pieces.
• Project description, fellowship plan, budget: A separate document (2 pages max, single spaced) detailing:
  • why you should get this fellowship
  • what you will be working on while here
  • how you will spend the funds to achieve this plan
    • NOTE: The proposed work in your plan MUST be a manuscript of minimum novella-length (i.e. 17,500 – 40,000 words) or novel length (i.e. 40,000+ words). All applicants must be aged 18 and above.
• Response time: Selected fellows will be announced (and contacted) between 30-90 days from the application deadline.

For more information, visit Literary Laddership Fellowship.