The Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) has announced the recipients of its third and final Black Atlantic Residency, supported by the Hawthornden Foundation.
Following a rigorous selection process, nine exceptional writers were chosen from a poll of over 300 applicants across Africa and the diaspora. These writers will be in residence at LOATAD in Accra, Ghana, in 2026 to work individually and in community to produce work on the theme, “What is Africa to the world?”
The selected residents are:
- Nana Sandy Achampong(Ghana)
- Kimberly F. Monroe(USA)
- Nick Makoha(Uganda)
- Khadija Koroma(Sierra Leone)
- Amandla Thomas-Johnson(UK)
- Avah Atherton(Trinidadian)
- Abubakar Ibrahim(Nigeria)
- Karen Chalamilla(Tanzanian)
- Christopher Armoh(Ghana)
The residency judges include writer and translator Edwige-Renée Dro from Côte d’Ivoire, writer, historian, and legal expert Joseph Ben Kaifala from Sierra Leone, and poet and scholar Dr Aza Weir-Soley from Jamaica.
Supported by Hawthornden Foundation, the programme seeks to foster transnational dialogue among African and the diaspora and this year’s selection covers a range of literary genres, from fiction and poetry to narrative nonfiction and academic writers.
Congratulations to the 2026 residents!
Sarah Adeyemo
Sarah Adeyemo is a poet, writer, editor, and spoken word artiste from Nigeria. She is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Sarah has work published or forthcoming work in ANMLY Lit, D’Iit Review, The Fiery Scribe Review, Con-Scio Magazine, Sevhage Review, Okiti Literary, Synchronized Chaos Magazine, Pepper Coast Magazine, The Weeds Review, Akpata Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press, TV-63 Magazine, Poems for Persons Interest, Northern Writers Forum Journal, Eboquills, Rinna Lit. Anthologies, and elsewhere. Her works have been shortlisted for the 2025 Labari Prize for Poetry and longlisted for the 2025 Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize. She serves as the Managing Editor at Words-Empire Magazine, a Poetry Editor at Yarnz Magazine, PFPOI, and a News & Feature writer at the Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit). She was a writing resident of the Rongo Artist Residency in 2026 and is currently a writing resident at the Ebedi International Writers Residency. She is a member of The Swan Collective. A dramatic poet who tweets @sarahinkspires.
