Africa Writers Academy
Background and General
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
was established to assist writers of all abilities to pursue their goal of
publication whether it be in magazines, books, journals, newspapers or on the
radio or the television. The major purpose of this initiative is to promote and
nature writing and reading within the African context. Writing, directly and
indirectly, fosters and enhances the development of a culture of reading. AWA
is the subsidiary or unit of Ilitha Publishers.
Our Mission
The Mission of The African
Writers Academy (AWA) is to discover, train and educate African writers across
the Continent.
Our Vision
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
aspires to be the best regarded national, continental and international model
in writing and publishing distingished as:
* A service that embraces a
national perspective;
* A service that embraces a
continental perspective
and
* A service that gives the best
to Africa through its
writing and publication
activities.
Our Aim
Our aim is to train, support and
advise African writers from all walks of life.
Our Goal
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
has as its strategic goal to promote, assist and sustain excellence in
writing and in publishing.
Our Values
Our values are the basic
principles underlying everything that the Academy does and making it what it
is. The following are the core values embraced by the Academy:
* A focus on professionalism;
* A focus on quality;
* A focus
on honesty and integrity and
* A focus on achieving excellent
standards.
Our Philosophy
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
will constantly, consistantly and continuously strive to:
* Emphasise productiviy, quality
and efficiency;
* Explore collaborative means
with similar ventures and
* Adhere to professional
performance benchmarks.
Objectives
The Objectives of AWA include:
* To encourage excellence and
cultural relevance in African
authorship.
* To promote a reading culture
grounded in African knowledge
inventions.
* To promote through writing and visual arts, ideas and ideals that would enhance national and regional socio-cultural
development.
* To promote the development and growth of writing and visual
arts.
* To promote writing
in indigenous African languages.
* To become an Africa-wide Centre
in the promotion of writing.
* To develop and promote tangible
and intangible cultural values.
* To promote active collaboration between African countries
through the sharing of reading-learning materials.
* To establish Recognition Awards for writing and publishing
excellence in Africa.
Participants
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
has identified three groups of participants:
* New writers
* Young (budding) writers (up and
coming)
* Seasoned (established) writers
Focus
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
will focus on the following:
* Schools (pre-primary, primary
and secondary)
* Tertiary institutions
* General readership
* Film
* Radio
Publications
The end product of activities at
The African Writers Academy (AWA) will be:
* Books
* Magazines
* Newspapers
* Journals
Core Activities
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
will focus on the following areas:
* Workshops / laboratories
* Lectures / Classes
* Training
Bienneal Event
The African Writers Academy (AWA)
will celebrate the African Literary Awards in recognition of the crucial
role that writing and publishing play not only in the development of culture of
reading but also in addressing political, social, cultural and economic
realities facing the African continent.
The African Literary Awards coordinated
by The African Writers Academy (AWA) will be a bienneal event.
Articles
African Writers Academy (AWA) - Development in Africa
