Africa

Barlen PYAMOOTOO (fiction writer; Mauritius) is the founder/director of publishing houses  Alma and L’Atelier d’écriture, and leads the creative writing workshop at the Institut Français de Maurice. He has published three novels, including Le tour de Babylone (2002) and Salogi’s (2008). In 2006, Pyamootoo wrote the screenplay for and directed the feature film adapted from his novel Bénarès. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Writing Sample

Christopher MLALAZI (fiction writer, playwright; Zimbabwe) is the author of the novels Many Rivers (2009) and Running With Mother (2012), and the short story collection Dancing With Life: Tales From the Township (2008), which won the Best First Book award at the National Arts Merit Awards. Mlalazi’s eight plays, including the 2008 Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Award winner “The Crocodile Of Zambezi,” have all been staged.

Writing Sample

TJ DEMA (poet; Botswana), a founding member of her country’s spoken word movement and a member of Sonic Slam Chorus, a former chair of the Writers' Association of Botswana, and runs Sauti Arts and Performance Management. An editor and anthologized poet, she has produced a multilingual CD, “Dreaming Is A Gift For Me,” featuring twelve Botswana poets. This summer she took part in the Cultural Olympiad’s Poetry Parnassus in London. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Writing Sample

Khaled ALBERRY (novelist; Egypt) is the author of Life is More Beautiful Than Paradise (2001), an autobiographical account his life with a radical Islamist group. His 2010 novel [An Oriental Dance] was shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize; other novels include [Negative] (2004) and [The New Testament] (2011). Alberry has worked for the BBC as a journalist, correspondent and producer, and is currently a columnist for the Tahrir Newspaper. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S.

Writing Sample