Two Malawian writers in African anthology

Two budding female Malawian writers have made it into an upcoming anthology for young African writers to be published this year, according to an announcement made by the Afro Young Adult talent search.

The two, Tamanda Kanjaye and Yamikani Mlangiza, are among 17 young  writers drawn from across the continent from a pool of 52 who recently attended writing workshops under the Afro Young Adult Initiative.

While the workshops, aimed at analysing and reworking the young writers’ creations, were held in eight cities, the Malawians were in the Kigali cohort that included writers from Rwanda and Uganda.

“The Goethe-Institut Sub-Saharan Africa has announced the selection for the Afro Young Adult project. The project was launched last year, with the aim of producing more African literature for Young Adult readers.

“The selected authors and their short stories are the result of eight workshops that were held in eight African cities during February. The stories were selected by a panel consisting of writers, literary activists and young adult readers from across Africa,” reads the announcement in part.

The announcement adds that the 17 selected stories, written in English, French and Kiswahili, will be published in an anthology later this year, and the project’s top three stories will be published in The Johannesburg Review of Books.

Kanjaye’s story is titled A Change in Sleeping Arrangements while Mlangiza’s is titled Forever Hers after the initial title changed from A Love of Her Dream after the workshops.

In an interview, Kanjaye said she was excited that her writing is finally paying off stating that being among the 17 selected for the anthology from a pool of 52 means her writing is good enough. In a separate interview, Mlangiza, who also expressed happiness to be part of the anthology, believes the opportunity will motivate more Malawian young writers.

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