Three writers made up of a Kenyan and two Nigerians are currently in Iseyin, Oyo State, for the May/June 2018 Ebedi Writers Residency Session.
They are Troy Onyango, Socrates Mbamalu and T. J. Benson.
Established by writer and physician, Dr. Wale Okediran, the Ebedi International Writers Residency is a private initiative for writers to complete their ongoing works in a conducive environment at no cost.
Since its inception in 2010, the facility has hosted more than 100 writers from 10 different African countries. It also offers publishing opportunities to its fellows through an arrangement with one of Nigeria’s foremost publishing outfit, the Literamed Publishers, Oregun, Lagos.
Troy Onyango is a Kenyan writer and lawyer. His fiction has appeared in various journals and magazines, including Transition Magazine Issue 121, for which his short story, ‘The Transfiguration’, was nominated for the 2016 Pushcart Prize.
Socrates Mbamalu is a Nigerian writer whose works have appeared in Saraba Magazine, Deyu African, Kalahari Review, African Writer. Sankofa Mag among others. He has participated in two editions of the Writivism workshop and was recently shortlisted for the Saraba Nonfiction Manuscript. He was recently commissioned by the Commonwealth Writers for a piece titled ‘The Lives of Trailer Drivers’, which was published in November 2016.
The third writer, Tee Jay Benson, is a Fellow of the Ebedi Residency, having attended a previous edition a few years ago. He has among other things worked as an editor and columnist for Aspire.org.ng, MGE UK Men’s fashion magazine, Afrisphere.com and Kaanem.com. He has also participated in the Yasmin el Rufai creative writing workshop and First Bank Naked Canvas Competition. He was commissioned in February 2015 to produce a collection of photography and poetry titled ‘Self’.
