By Yunus S Saliu
Alassan Njie AKA Malcolm X Jr, Gambian author, Poet, and student activist has completed a one-month residency for young writers held in Nigeria, from June 18th to July 19th, 2024.
The Ebedi Writer’s Residency is one of the most prestigious in Africa hosted at Ebedi in Iseyin town, Oyo State, Nigeria and it aims to boost the literary and creative writing skills of writers across the world. Njie is the fifth Gambian writer to have attended the Residency since 2019.
The Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Mr. Hassoum Ceesay welcomed Njie’sparticipation at the Residency and said the NCAC was proud to be associated again with the success of a young Gambian writer. He believes that Njie’s participation was well-deserved because he is a keen and promising writer whose literary skills are of utmost creativity and depth.
Speaking to this medium, the alumnus explained that he spent the past month in deep literary engagement with other writers from Nigeria. He said there was a lot of peer review, peer mentorship, and also fruitful hours of reading and library works which has enabled him to revise some of his works and also write new materials for eventual publication.
Njie’s first collection of poems titled Guidance came out in 2022. He thanked the organizers of Ebedi for the wonderful welcome and the beautiful facilities afforded to the Residence.
He also expressed enormous thanks to the Deputy Speaker, Honorable Seedy S.K Njie for his tremendous support and to the NCAC for their support. Njie urged young writers to read widely, tour, and write relevant material to the reading public as their contribution to national development.