Application Deadline: 5th July 2017 midnight, Moroccan Time.
The Olive Writers (TOW) is a FULLY FUNDED six-day-long creative writing program for young Moroccan writers between the ages of 16-21, of which 65 percent are female participants. The program will take place between the 18th and 23th of August 2017 at the American Language Center of Casablanca (lodging in a hotel nearby).
The Olive Writers program aims to hone participants’ skills as creative writers while also putting them in contact with influential writers who will serve as mentors to them, providing wider exposure for their creative work, introducing them to the publishing world, and providing them access to national and international support networks of fellow young writers.
- Requirements:During the program, the participants will attend seminars on Arabic and American literature and daily bilingual creative writing workshops held in both English and Arabic.
- In addition, participants will have the opportunity to attend intensive workshops in literary translation and journalism.
- This programming will allow participants to revise and refine a creative project and to delve deeply into questions of craft and theory.
- The morning creative writing workshops will be available in both Arabic and English, and the remaining courses and lectures will be in either of the two languages.Throughout the six days, our young writers will get to meet established writers, world-renowned poets and literary critics, from Morocco, the USA, Egypt, Canada, and UK. Not only will participants have the opportunity to discuss the art and craft of creative writing during intensive workshops and seminars, they will also have the chance to network and expand their creative community. We will have access to the University of Iowa’s creative writing videos for further instruction and discussion.
A cultural trip is scheduled for the afternoon of the fourth day of the camp. The Olive Writer staff will lead participants on a guided tour of Casablanca. This tour will delve into the cultural history of the city and will highlight Casablanca’s literary patrimony. A closing ceremony will be held during the last day of the program.
Participants will share their creative work with an audience composed of fellow writers, instructors, parents, and community members to create a deeper engagement between the program participants and the local community in Casablanca. Following the reading, participants will receive a diploma and a copy of The Olive Writers’ collective anthology.
 4-7 pages of fiction and/or poetry written in either Arabic or English. The participants have to submit samples in the language of the main writing workshop they are applying for.
 Writing assignment: Please include 2-5 pages in response to the following:
Family, friends, region, tribe, religious denomination, ethnic groups, class, gender, race, work, neighborhood, country, political parties—in our daily lives we navigate between different markers, adjusting our speech patterns and behavior to the demands of each encounter, narrating to ourselves stories about how and why we come to occupy a particular place in the scheme of things. What do you consider to be the strongest, most central aspects of your identity? What does it mean to you to be a member (or be seen as a member) of particular identity groups? In what way does your identity influence your creative writing?
 A statement of purpose (250 words maximum, in English or Arabic) describing why creative writing is important in your life, and what you hope to learn at the program.Cost: ‘The Olive Writers’ is a fully-funded program. Local travel, accommodation, meals, and all the other expenses related to the program are covered.
– Email the application materials (Writing sample, Writing assignment, Statement of purpose) in one document, in Microsoft Word format sent as an attachment to [email protected] (not in the body email), clearly labeled in the subject: Full Name of the participant-city.
-All applications must be received by 5th July 2017 midnight, Moroccan Time.
-If you write in other languages too, send us a sample in your application email, as an attachment in a separate document.
-All entries will be checked automatically for plagiarism. Entries found to be plagiarized will be disqualified without notification to the writer.
-If you don’t meet the criteria for this program ( age restriction for instance), send an email to [email protected] where you explain your situation, and attach a sample of your writing. We will see what we can do then.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Olive Writers Camp 2017 Creative Writing Program
