Award-Winning Author Partners with AMA Academy to Host a Masterclass on Creative Writing

With the aim to upskill journalists on fiction storytelling, African Media Agency has announced a creative writing masterclass hosted in partnership with Chigozie Obioma as part of AMA Academy. 

AMA Academy is a free-to-use pan-African online learning platform dedicated to upskilling journalists and media personnel across the continent. The first cohort boasts 200 journalists and has hosted three training sessions led by industry experts since kick-off in April 2022. 

Chigozie is a Nigerian author. His first novel The Fishermen published in 2015 and his second novel An Orchestra of Minorities published in 2019 were both short-listed for the Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in literature. His work has been translated into more than 28 languages The session Creating a Story Instead of a Tale is slated for 23 June 2022 at 3 PM GMT all journalists are encouraged to attend. 

“It is our great honour to partner with Chigozie for our first creative writing masterclass for what we know will be a memorable session. I have admired and been moved by his style of writing, especially his novel An Orchestra of Minorities, and cannot wait for him to impart his knowledge and share practical tools in the masterclass. AMA Academy’s goal is to provide a variety of training to transfer skills across all genres and industries so that journalists can learn to monetize their craft and diversify their writing. It is our greatest joy to share the opportunity to learn from him with our cohort and invite all journalists across Africa to attend,” said Eloïne Barry, CEO of African Media Agency. 

Register your interest in the Masterclass here.

 

About the Speaker 

 

Chigozie Obioma was born in Akure, Nigeria. His two novels, The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019) were shortlisted for The Booker Prize. His novels have been translated into more than 28 languages. They have won awards including the inaugural FT/Oppenheimer Award for Fiction, the NAACP Image Award , and the LA Times Book Prize, and have been nominated for many others. The Fishermen was adapted into an award-winning stage play by Gbolahan Obisesan that played in the UK and South Africa between 2018-2019. He was named one of Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2015. He is an associate professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and divides his time between the US and Nigeria.