Mawazo Africa Writing Institute is a creative arts company based in Entebbe, Uganda whose mission is to nurture African writers so as to enhance literary production across the continent, with a particular emphasis on creative writing workshops in all genres. We believe cultural production and exchange is essential for social change.
Mawazo was set up in September 2016 in Entebbe, Uganda by the directors: Doreen Baingana and Farida Bagalaaliwo.
Our Work
The Institute’s main focus is to conduct advanced, long-term creative writing training and support for African writers. Our main activity is to organize and run advanced, long-term, online writing courses in all literary genres for writers physically based on the African continent with the aim of producing high-quality work ready for publication.
We are committed to seeking out talented African writers and providing the support they need to enhance their literary skills.
See Our Courses for more details.
The Team
Doreen Baingana is a widely-published, award-winning writer with an MFA in Creative Writing (UMD, US) and a law degree from Makerere University, Uganda. Prizes include an AWP Prize and a Commonwealth Prize for her short-story collection, Tropical Fish. She has led creative writing workshops in the US, the UK, and multiple African countries
; was a Managing Editor of Storymoja Publishers, Kenya, and Chairperson of Femrite: The Uganda Women Writers’ Association; and a judge of prizes including the Hurston/Wright Prize for Debut Fiction, the Golden Baobab Prize for Children’s Literature and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her mission as a writer goes hand in hand with her aspiration to nurture newer writers.
Farida Bagalaaliwo is a Ugandan educator and entrepreneur with a strong interest in the arts. She is a women and children’s rights activist and has worked with non profit 
organisations to raise awareness about violence against women and children. She previously served on the boards of the Uganda Forex Bureau and Money Remittance Association and Femrite: Uganda Women Writers’ Association. She is the managing director of an early learning centre in eastern Uganda.
Partners
We aim to partner with institutions and initiatives locally, regionally and internationally who share our mission of enhancing the quality and quantity of literary production across Africa.
The Miles Morland Foundation
The Foundation’s main aim is to support entities in Africa which allow Africans to get their voices better heard. It is particularly interested in supporting African writing and African literature.
Department of English at the University of Bristol
The partnership with the University of Bristol is intended to help with developing pedagogies and an online platform to support Mawazo’s creative writing workshops.
Find out more about the partnership here:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/english/news/2017/krishnansperlingersrf.html
Arts Management and Literary Activism 
Mawazo participated in the AMLA pilot mentoring program in 2017, which helped develop the Institute’s initial strategic plan and the programme of activities for its first workshop project.
Find out more about AMLA: https://amlanetwork.com/
mawazoinstituteafrica.wordpress.com 