Exciting news! I’m going to Vermont

A few weeks back I heard that I was accepted to a Vermont Studio Centre writing residency. I am completely thrilled about this. I’ll be going for the month of March 2017. A WHOLE MONTH OF WRITING. I am also incredibly grateful because I received a bursary towards the fees for the residency.

I haven’t been on a writing residency since 2014 when I attended the African Women’s Development Fund and FEMRITE women’s non-fiction writing residency in Entebbe, Uganda. This was an incredible experience. Under the guidance of Yewande Omotoso and Mamle Kabu we worked through key themes in women’s writing in Africa and the way we could employ creative writing techniques to tell true stories. My journal from that two weeks was over a hundred pages filled with quotes and poems. But more than that, I came away with a new group of friends and allies in writing about women’s rights, and firmly believing in telling women’s stories. We still have a Whatsapp group going two years later where we vary between significant commentary on social events and just providing solidarity and support to one another.

I have no idea what to expect from Vermont except that it will be a) freezing cold at that time, the coldest I have ever been, and b) amazing. Vermont has hardly any people and lots of trees which is basically my dream writing environment. There is also an established yoga studio so if you follow me on Instagram you can expect to see photos of trees, ice, snow, coffees, and yoga. It is also super close to Canada – another place I have never been but want to go – so you might see some pictures of that too.

Of course, between all this photography I will be writing. To have a dedicated time for writing is always precious, but to have a solid month to do it is so special. EXCITEMENT!