The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) invites applications for its ninth Writing Fellowship programme, which will run from 1 April – 30 June 2025.
The 2025 Writing Fellowship centers on the theme of Global Blackness. At JIAS, we use the term “global Blackness” to signal our investment in exploring the multiplicity of Black experience, intellectual traditions, and perspectives as well as modes of Black theory.
The fellowship invites applications from established scholars, creative practitioners, and thought leaders, with preference given to individuals in, from or closely aligned to Global South contexts. Applicants should submit a clear motivation, outlining a definite writing project (such as a book in progress) or creative project (such as a new body of work) they plan to work towards over the residency period, as well as why Johannesburg (and JIAS) presents a meaningful location in which to nurture their practice. JIAS welcomes exploratory, interdisciplinary research projects, as well as collective-based projects. Past fellows have included novelists, poets, playwrights, scientists, independent researchers, and journalists.