PRESS RELEASE
Monday, 18th May, 2020
Motswana writer, Botho Lejowa has today been announced as the winner of the African Writers Trust 2020 Seed Funding worth EURO 4,200. Now in its second edition, the budget is offered under the organisation’s Publishing Fellowship programme, designed to create a step-change in the book sector in Africa by focusing on the professional development of upcoming talent in African publishing through training, mentoring and support to gain publishing experience. The specific aim of the seed funding is to facilitate the winner to produce a model publication that adheres to international publishing standards.
Botho Lejowa’s winning manuscript project, Meetings with Death explores the themes of spirituality, magic, taboo, rituals and supernatural entities; cleverly woven into a modern fantasy that’s set in both the streets of our everyday lives and the realms of ancestral beings.
Speaking on this announcement, AWT’s director, Goretti Kyomuhendo said:
“We are excited to be working with Botho Lejowa, a fresh, dynamic and highly-promising voice from Botswana with a broad range of talents suitable for this award. With few fantasy writers on the continent, this is a novel with the potential of galvanising more writers to follow in the fantasy genre and create a whole new audience of readers.”
With support from DOEN Foundation
