Kokonut Head Media has officially opened applications for its 2025 Writers in Residence Program, a three-month online residency for emerging African writers. The program is specifically designed for university students and recent graduates who live and write on the African continent. The deadline to apply is July 1, 2025.

Now in its second edition, the program will select three writers to participate in an intensive digital residency, during which each participant will produce six short stories for publication on Kokonut Head Media’s website. In addition to publication, residents will receive personalized editorial mentorship and take part in private craft sessions led by prominent writers, editors, and publishing professionals.

With a required commitment of at least 20 hours per week, the program offers a total award of $600 per writer, disbursed biweekly over the 12-week residency. Kokonut Head Media describes the residency as a high-impact opportunity designed to help writers refine their craft, expand their networks, and pursue tangible career goals. Past participants have gone on to win major literary awards and secure fully funded MFA placements using work developed during the program.

The initiative welcomes applications from writers whose work is bold, linguistically inventive, and grounded in indigenous storytelling traditions:

Tell us your story. Tell us about the experiences you’ve lived, seen, and heard about from those around you. Make it familiar, make it weird. Make it uncomfortable yet soothing, like the feeling you get when you scratch an itch. What a beautiful story.

We are looking for submissions that push the bounds of language and indigenous stories! Stories that make us feel Nostalgic.
What does it mean to really represent African thought in English?
What does it mean to expand local folklore, proverbs, and riddles through your writing?

If your work is linguistically innovative, if it plays on commonly told stories, or if it sits on the fringe of familiar and new, it’ll be a great fit!

Applications are open on a rolling basis until July 15, 2025. The residency will take place starting the first week of September through the end of November, 2025.

Application guidelines:

  • A portfolio of completed work

  • A brief proposal outlining their project, including at least one short story idea

To apply and read the full guidelines, go to the program page

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Disclaimer: Brittle Paper does not thoroughly vet every opportunity. Please make sure to do your own research prior to submitting.