Ghanaian playwright and poet, Waterz Yidana, has been selected to participate in the Fall Residency component of the International Writing Program. Yidana’s participation in the Fall Residency is made possible by Exchange Programs – U.S. Department of State.
About Waterz
Waterz Yidana is a completely innovative Ghanaian writer. His innovative works have become famous in Ghana whilst he gained the 40Under40 Awards in Authorship and Creative Writings in 2019, offered via way of means of Xodus Communications. He has gained numerous awards which include 40under40 and Efo Kodjo Mawugbe’s Prizw. His first play “The Mango Seed” gained the Efo Kodjo Mawugbe’s Prize in Drama in 2019, offered via way of means of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW).
He writes for Ghanaweb and The Mirror. His play, MADMAN AND THE DRUNKARDS has been adopted by the University of Ghana. He has won several national and international awards and nominations. MADMAN AND THE DRUNKARDS has been touted as many to be the next “Things Fall Apart.” Ghana Education Service has approved this award winning book to be used in the Senior High Schools and it’s highly likely that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) could consider the book for Core Literature in English. He attended the Accra College of Education and the University of Cape Coast.
About the Fall Residency component of the International Writing Program (IWP)
The Fall Residency is part of the International Writing Program (IWP) and is the oldest and biggest multicultural writing residency withinside the world. The Fall Residency brings first-rate authors from each continent to the University of Iowa.
The Residency, which usually runs from late August to mid-November, is designed for established and emerging creative writers — poets, fiction writers, dramatists, and nonfiction writers. The minimum requirements are that they have published at least one book, and that they possess sufficient proficiency in English to benefit from the Iowa experience.
The Residency provides writers with time, in a setting congenial to their efforts, for the production of literary work. It also introduces them to the social and cultural fabrics of the United States, enables them to take part in American university life, and creates opportunities for them to contribute to literature courses both at the University of Iowa and across the country.
This is a massive win for Waterz and a great opportunity to publicize Ghana to the entire world in terms of writing.
