How the scheme works

Graham Mort with Crossing Borders participants, Kampala

Each writer on the scheme was linked to an experienced professional UK writer who gave close attention to their work through e-mail exchange. The programme consisted of six tutorials over a nine-month period. At the end of the e-mail exchange a series of live writing workshops and public readings were delivered by visiting writers.

Attention to the participant was personal and specific. Participants directed their own learning through correspondence with their mentor. Reflection on the creative process was enabled and a portfolio of new writing was developed and revised. The writing journal, which collated the entire experience of the course, formed a resource that could be drawn upon in the context of new creative work.

The project was delivered in partnership with local British Council offices and operated in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa (including Botswana), Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana, making it a truly pan-African initiative. Individual African participants were supported on a structured programme by a team of 25 mentors – all professional writers in a range of literary genres.

Based in the UK, but drawn from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, mentors were inducted and trained by experts at Lancaster University. Crossing Borders aimed to break the isolation of young African writers, promoting writing development, library usage, cultural exchange and a greater knowledge of contemporary literature in English. It also aimed to support writers in the UK who work as mentors on the scheme, enriching their literary and cultural experience.