June 25 - July 22, 2024
Khadija Bajaber (Kenya) Fiction
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber is a Kenyan writer and the author of The House of Rust which won the inaugural Graywolf Press Africa Prize and The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. You can find her work at Enkare Review, A Long House, Lolwe, and Down River Road among others.
This residency is supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg
Fanny Desarzens (Switzerland) Fiction
Fanny Desarzens was born in 1993. She has lived in Lausanne for 10 years, but grew up in the Vaud countryside. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in visual arts from HEAD-Geneva in 2018. After this experience in Geneva, she embarked on her literary work. Galel, her first book, was awarded the Prix Suisse de Littérature in 2023, as well as the Terra Nova prize from the Schiller Foundation. Chesa Seraina, her second book, won the Prix Ève from the Académie romande. Her next novel, Ce qu'il reste de tout ça, will be published in August 2024. Fanny Desarzens is currently working on various texts and projects, as well as a fourth novel.
This residency is supported by State of Vaud
Nikola Madžirov (North Macedonia) Poetry, non-fiction, translation
Nikola Madžirov was born in Strumica in 1973, into a family of refugees from the Balkan wars. His poems have been translated into over forty languages. For his book Relocated Stone (2007), he was awarded the Hubert Burda International Poetry Prize for writers born in Eastern Europe and the most prestigious Macedonian poetry prize, Miladinov Brothers. He has also been awarded the Studentski Zbor Prize for best debut book in poetry and the Xu Zhimo Silver Leaf Prize for European Poetry at King's College Cambridge. He is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Stremež.
This residency is supported by S. Fischer Stiftung
Tamta Melashvili (Georgia) Fiction
Tamta Melashvili is an award-winning writer based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has authored three novels, numerous short stories, and several pieces of nonfiction. Her latest acclaimed novel, "Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry" (2021), received the prestigious Saba literary prize and was adapted into a feature film premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. Melashvili's fiction explores themes such as trauma, inequalities, sexuality and power. Her works have been translated into various languages including German, Italian, Russian, and French.
This residency is supported by S. Fischer Stiftung
