SprinNG Annual Report - 2020

Read about SprinNG's 2021 Prospects

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Despite the challenges that 2020 brought, SprinNG expanded its strength and impact, optimizing its ability to promote, revitalize, and improve new Nigerian generations in writing and literature. SprinNG’s accomplishments wouldn’t have been without you – our readers and writers, the fellowship mentees, alumni and mentors, applicants of our contests, and the team. Here is a summary of our accomplishments in 2020 compared to the previous years.

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SprinNG Publications:

In 2020, we published a total of 43 items on our website, garnering over 200 comments, 21,000 unique views, and 42,000 page visits on the website.
 
This was a significant improvement compared to 2019's 4,300 unique views and 13,300 page views. We increased our social media following by 40% with the addition of the SprinNG Women Authors Prize media.

For 2021, as an alternative to the open call for submissions that we usually have, SprinNG will be publishing select contributors from our pool of SprinNG Fellowship Alumni. Our publication’s page will be dedicated to the select contributors for 8 months of 2021, giving them a specific opportunity for exposure in the light of our increasing reach. 
 
A different avenue for submissions will be provided to writers who haven’t been former participants of our fellowship. There will be several calls for submissions for publication in SprinNG’s anthologies, like our first titled We Are Deathless.

Anthologies:

We Are Deathless - Edited by Wale Ayinla and Kanyinsola Olorunnisola. We Are Deathless aims for a new narrative with a multitude of black voices speaking their truths in unison. It emphasizes that blackness is no monolith; it exists in various forms, and we want works that acknowledge its cultural, religious, ideological, and sexual diversity. To read more about this anthology, visit www.sprinng.org/we-are-deathless.

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2020 SprinNG Fellowship’s ‘Why I Write’ Anthology - This anthology represents the 2020 cohort with writings by 21 of the 50 writers accepted into the fellowship’s fourth cohort, 48 of which completed the programme requirements. The publication date will be announced on our social media platforms soon.

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The SprinNG Fellowship:

The SprinNG Fellowship is an intensive five-week online mentorship programme for developing writers with great potential and willingness to learn. Select participants of the fellowship are paired with top contemporary writers to receive feedback continually on their work. In 2020, we expanded the writing fellowship, creating a sequential advancement program dedicated to improving select writers and former mentees' career development.

Here is the history of participation in our fellowship:

• In January 2018, 9 writers were selected to be mentees as the first cohort.
• In August 2018, 20 writers were accepted into the fellowship. 
• In 2019, 25 writers were mentored.
• This year – 2020, 48 writers completed the fellowship.

Notable changes to the SprinNG Fellowship:
• In 2021, we shall expand the opportunity to Ghana - allowing Ghanaian writers who met the eligibility criteria and are selected, to participate in the fellowship. 
• The SprinNG Writing Fellowship (SWF), which covers literary genres, will be available for free; however, the SprinNG Advancement Fellowship (SAF) will be modified into an all-year-round mentorship module and platform for creatives and non-creatives in Nigeria and beyond to improve their career development skills.

The application for the SprinNG fellowship will open again in 2021 between January and April 15.

SprinNG Contests:

SprinNG will continue its Annual Poetry Contest, the monthly Roving Heights Giveaway, and the SprinNG Women Author's Prize. To learn more about our contests, visit www.sprinng.org/contests.

The SprinNG Women Authors Prize: In January 2020, The SprinNG Women Authors Prize (#SWAPng) was founded. Blessing Ogunyemi currently leads the project. SW​AP will select a Nigerian Female Author annually - someone who has published a full-length book in print and invest N100,000 in purchasing, distributing, and marketing copies of their book nationwide through our sister literary websites and events with whom we collaborate. SWAP’s first winner will be announced in January 2021.

SprinNG Media:

In 2021, we will be taking a more strategic approach to enhance our content and engage our audience. We will share insights, opinions, and thoughts to induce conversations that will further support SprinNG goals.

The SprinNG Internship:

This year, we welcomed two interns Oluwafunmilayo Ojeniyi and Zainab Ajadi, to the team. Going forward, the SprinNG team will be collaborating with the CTCTW, drawing from their students and youth participants to select one intern per year.

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The Nigerian Writers Database:

We are currently not accepting submissions for biographies to the Nigerian Writers Database managed by SprinNG until further notice. We are always looking for ways to improve our services' user experience; hence, the hold on the platform. As soon as there are updates, we will inform you via social media and email announcements.