UNIMA and COSOMA Celebrate Success of ‘Malawi Writing Better’ Workshop

The University of Malawi’s Department of Literary Studies, in collaboration with the Copyright Society of Malawi (COSOMA), on 23rd August, 2024 concluded its “Malawi Writing Better” workshop. The week-long event, which aimed to enhance participants’ writing and editing skills, ended with a certificate presentation ceremony for 18 dedicated writers who took advantage of the opportunity to improve their craft and forge new connections with their fellow writers.

Mr. Blessings Botha, the Fund Manager at COSOMA, expressed his satisfaction with the workshop’s management. He commended the department for its careful use of funds, effective facilitation, and the diverse age range of the participants. Botha expressed hope that the skills and knowledge gained would be well utilized by the attendees.

During the 5-day workshop, participants focused on various topics related to writing and editing, such as exploring traditions of writing in Malawi, the relationship between writers, editors, and readers, the use of social media to market one’s writing, the ethics of publishing, the politics of writing prizes, and more technical matters to do with writing fiction and poetry. In his closing remarks, Dr. Emmanuel Ngwira, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNIMA, thanked COSOMA for their financial support. He noted the potential that the Malawian writing industry has, and observed that continued investment is going to change the terrain of the industry. 

Dr Ngwira has since challenged the department to continue organizing the workshop on an annual basis, with or without funding from COSOMA. Dr. Ngwira emphasized that the workshop aligned with the university’s goal to make a meaningful impact on the community by addressing the challenges faced by Malawian writers. He further gave a directive to the department to immediately start working on introducing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing to be launched next academic year.

Commenting on the collaboration with COSOMA, Dr Ngwira mentioned that it is part of UNIMA’s broader plan to strengthen collaborations with both national and international academic institutions and industry partners. He described the collaboration as a significant achievement for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, particularly the Department of Literary Studies, as it represents a successful effort to partner with external organizations to create programs that address key issues in the literary field.