Issue
Public libraries are sparsely distributed and under resourced in Tanzania, and reading books are not always available in primary and secondary schools.
How we are helping
The grant is supporting the development of young people’s creative writing skills. It will help to encourage young people to read and to write, and amplify their own narratives, adding to the body of young adult literature.
About the project
Soma will work with five alumni of past creative writing interventions and young people to produce a Kiswahili anthology. An anthology of no less than 15 short stories, creative non-fiction and poems will be conceived and embedded in the organisation’s online multimedia storytelling archive and will be accessible through the creative commons site, https://storyweaver.org.
Project Partners
Soma Book Cafe is a unique literary space and storytelling hub comprising a bookshop, cafe and public literary space. It is a space for teenagers and young people, book clubs, public dialogues, creative writing learning sessions, public literary events, writing workshops and residencies, as well as fairs and festivals. It has also experimented with multimedia storytelling innovation and co-creations, online and offline content development and mentorship of feminist/pan-African and sustainable earth contents for diverse audiences. Soma’s purpose is ‘to contribute to Tanzania’s transformation into an informed society that values knowledge, creativity, and independent thinking’.
We support people's participation in democracy and development by providing grants, platforms, and expertise.
