JIAS writing fellows 2024 arrive in Johannesburg
ACADEMICS, writers, and other intellectuals from five countries and several continents have converged on the Johannesburg Institute For Advanced Study (JIAS) in Westdene, Johannesburg, for a fully sponsored four-month Writing Term.
JIAS is one of only two Institutes for Advanced Study in the country. It is also unusual in that it is a shared initiative between two universities in different countries: the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Established in 2005, JIAS is playing an increasingly important role in advanced scholarship in South and southern Africa, as well as in forging global linkages among disciplines and scholars.
This annual intake of Writing Fellows is the third in JIAS’s existence. The programme thus far has been enormously successful, with Fellows producing a range of published books, films, plays, accredited academic papers, and other intellectual output emanating from their sojourns at JIAS.
Selected from more than 300 applicants, the 2024 Writing Fellows include authors, journalists, and scholars in various disciplines from Africa and Asia.
Writing Fellows have access to live-in suites at the JIAS complex in Westdene, Johannesburg, where they enjoy a quiet space for work and reflection, and participate in academic community-building. they also have access to extensive facilities at the University of Johannesburg.
Commenting on the final selection, Prof Peter Vale, JIAS Director, said he was gratified by the large number of applications, which attested to the growing role of JIAS in fostering interdisciplinary thought and research.
‘We are excited by the pool of talent these Fellows represent. We hope their stay at JIAS will be productive, and they will make full use of this opportunity to share in and build an intercontinental community of scholars.’
THE 2024 WRITING FELLOWS IN BRIEF
The 2024 Writing Fellows are:
Dr Meng-Hsuan Chou, Nanyang Assistant Professor in the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme at NTU Singapore.
Dr David Huang Junsong, Assistant Dean: Research Strategy in the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore.
Dr Geoffrey Maiyoh, Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate programme coordinator in the Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Moi University, Kenya.
Niq Mhlongo, South African journalist and novelist.
Hans Pienaar, South African novelist and journalist.
Prof Joel Quirk, Professor of Politics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Kevin Riordan, Assistant Professor of English at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Amrita Shah, a journalist and writer based in Mumbai/Bangalore, India.
Charlie Samuya Veric, critic, poet, and lecturer in literature and cultural theory at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.
Zukiswa Wanner, a South African journalist and novelist, born in Zambia and now based in Kenya.