Please support a third recipient of the New Daughters of Africa Award at SOAS by making a gift towards their scholarship, and join Margaret Busby to support a new generation of African women writers and create a lasting legacy.
The Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award was set up by Margaret Busby, Myriad Editions and SOAS, University of London to support a new generation of African women writers.
The Award supports a black, female student from Africa to come to SOAS to study on a Master's programme in Comparative Literature, African Studies or Translation in African Languages.
To date, we have raised enough in donations to support two scholars - Idza Luhumyo and Stella Gichohi, both (coincidentally) from Kenya - to come to SOAS and thrive.
Ghanaian-born Margaret Busby CBE, Hon. FRSL (Nana Akua Ackon) is a major cultural figure around the world and well-known as having been Britain's first Black female publisher after co-founding Allison & Busby in the 1960s.
In 1992, Margaret changed the literary landscape forever when she published 'Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent'. Twenty-seven years later, as she compiled her follow-up landmark anthology, 'New Daughters of Africa', she was determined to celebrate its publication with an inspirational legacy that went beyond the book itself.
'New Daughters of Africa' celebrates the global writing of more than 200 writers of African descent. Alongside acclaimed names and major prize winners are many others equally deserving of attention; overlooked historical authors as well as exciting new and emerging writers.
All contributors donated their fees to Margaret’s dream of making a lasting legacy. Their generosity built a bedrock of support and, together with the backing of Myriad and investment of Margaret herself, who donates a proportion of her royalties to the fund, made it possible to launch the award in 2019 in collaboration with SOAS University of London.
Just one year later, in 2020, Idza Luhumyo, a writer from Mombasa, Kenya, became the inaugural recipient of the New Daughters of Africa Award for her MA in Comparative Literature at SOAS. Scholarships are crucial for removing the financial barriers between talented students and their potential. Idza described her studies at SOAS as life-changing, and before graduating, she won the 2021 Short Story Day Africa Prize. The following year – competing among 349 entries from 27 countries – she won the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. These phenomenal strides would not have been possible without her scholarship.
Idza's award was funded entirely through donations, and thanks to the generosity of many supporters, a second Margaret Busby scholar – Stella Gichohi – enrolled at SOAS in October 2023.
Please help us to maintain this incredible opportunity for African women writers. We are crowdfunding again to ensure the continuation of the award, so that more talented writers might come to SOAS and realise their potential.
We want the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award to have a life-changing impact on generations of African writers.
Our aim is to build on these funds and ensure that the award can be offered not only twice, but every year.
Every donation, no matter the size, will contribute directly to the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award and help make it possible to fund another African student to study for her Master’s degree.
Please make a gift today, and share this page as widely as possible to keep this going.
This Award was made possible by all of the supporters to the 2020 and 2022 Scholarships, which includes all of the contributors to 'New Daughters of Africa':
Diane Abbott • Yassmin Abdel-Magied • Leila Aboulela • Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ • Sade Adeniran • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • Zoe Adjonyoh • Patience Agbabi • Agnès Agboton • Candace Allen • Lisa Allen-Agostini • Ellah Wakatama Allfrey • Andaiye • Harriet Anena • Joan Anim-Addo • Monica Arac de Nyeko • Yemisi Aribisala • Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro • Amma Asante • Michelle Asantewa • Nana Asma’u • Sefi Atta • Ayesha Harruna Attah • Gabeba Baderoon • Yaba Badoe • Yvonne Bailey-Smith • Doreen Baingana • Ellen Banda-Aaku • Angela Barry • Mildred K. Barya • Jackee Budesta Batanda • Simi Bedford • Linda Bellos • Jay Bernard • Marion Bethel • Ama Biney • Jacqueline Bishop • Malorie Blackman • Tanella Boni • Malika Booker • Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond • Beverley Bryan • Akosua Busia • Candice Carty-Williams • Rutendo Chabikwa • Barbara Chase-Riboud • Panashe Chigumadzi • Gabrielle Civil • Maxine Beneba Clarke • Angela Cobbinah • Carolyn Cooper • Juanita Cox • Meta Davis Cumberbatch • Patricia Cumper • Stella Dadzie • Yrsa Daley-Ward • Nana-Ama Danquah • Edwidge Danticat • Nadia Davids • Tjawangwa Dema • Yvonne Denis Rosario • Anni Domingo • Nah Dove • Edwige Renée Dro • Camille T. Dungy • Anaïs Duplan • Reni Eddo-Lodge • Aida Edemariam • Esi Edugyan • Summer Edward • Yvvette Edwards • Zena Edwards • Safia Elhillo • Zetta Elliott • Nawal El Saadawi • Diana Evans • Bernardine Evaristo • Eve L. Ewing • Deise Faria Nunes • Diana Ferrus • Nikky Finney • Aminatta Forna • Ifeona Fulani • Vangile Gantsho • Roxane Gay • Danielle Legros Georges • Patricia Glinton-Meicholas • Hawa Jande Golakai • Wangui wa Goro • Bonnie Greer • Jane Ulysses Grell • Rachel Eliza Griffiths • Carmen Harris • zakia henderson-brown • Joanne C. Hillhouse • Afua Hirsch • Zita Holbourne • Nalo Hopkinson • Rashidah Ismaili • Naomi Jackson • Sandra Jackson-Opoku • Delia Jarrett-Macauley • Margo Jefferson • Barbara Jenkins • Catherine Johnson • Ethel Irene Kabwato • Elizabeth Keckley • Fatimah Kelleher • Donika Kelly • Adrienne Kennedy • Susan Nalugwa Kiguli • Rosamond S. King • Donu Kogbara • Lauri Kubuitsile • Goretti Kyomuhendo • Beatrice Lamwaka • Patrice Lawrence • Andrea Levy • Lesley Lokko • Karen Lord • Karen McCarthy Woolf • Ashley Makue • Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi • Reneilwe Malatji • Sarah Ládípọ̀ Manyika • Ros Martin • Lebogang Mashile • Isabella Matambanadzo • NomaVenda Mathiane • Imbolo Mbue • Maaza Mengiste • Arthenia Bates Millican • Bridget Minamore • Nadifa Mohamed • Natalia Molebatsi • Wame Molefhe • Aja Monet • Sisonke Msimang • Blessing Musariri • Glaydah Namukasa • Marie NDiaye • Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi • Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ • Ketty Nivyabandi • Elizabeth Nunez • Selina Nwulu • Trifonia Melibea Obono • Nana Oforiatta Ayim • Irenosen Okojie • Nnedi Okorafor • Juliane Okot Bitek • Chinelo Okparanta • Yewande Omotoso • Makena Onjerika • Chibundu Onuzo • Tess Onwueme • Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor • Louisa Adjoa Parker • Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida • Alake Pilgrim • Winsome Pinnock • Hannah Azieb Pool • Olúmìdé Pópóọlá • Claudia Rankine • H. Cordelia Ray • Sarah Parker Remond • Florida Ruffin Ridley • Zandria F. Robinson • Zuleica Romay Guerra • Andrea Rosario-Gborie • Leone Ross • Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin • Minna Salami • Marina Salandy-Brown • Sapphire • Noo Saro-Wiwa • Taiye Selasi • Namwali Serpell • Kadija Sesay • Claire Shepherd • Verene A. Shepherd • Warsan Shire • Lola Shoneyin • Dorothea Smartt • Zadie Smith • Adeola Solanke • Celia Sorhaindo • Attillah Springer • Andrea Stuart • SuAndi • Valerie Joan Tagwira • Jennifer Teege • Jean Thévenet • Natasha Trethewey • Novuyo Rosa Tshuma • Hilda J. Twongyeirwe • Chika Unigwe • Yvonne Vera • Phillippa Yaa de Villiers • Kit de Waal • Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw • Effie Waller Smith • Rebecca Walker • Ayeta Anne Wangusa • Zukiswa Wanner • Jesmyn Ward • Verna Allette Wilkins • Charlotte Williams • Sue Woodford-Hollick • Makhosazana Xaba • Tiphanie Yanique
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