The Dean of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at GW, then William Frawley, started the World Literature Residency in 2004, working with the Creative Writing program in the English Department. The program has continued under the leadership of Interim Dean Diana Lipscomb.

2004
Our first World Literature Residency Fellow was Githa Hariharan, a novelist from India.

2005
The second WLR Fellow was Witi Ihimaera, from New Zealand, who was with us for a month.

Mr. Ihimaera is a novelist whose book for young adults, Whale Rider, had been made into a movie successful worldwide. A former diplomat and currently a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Auckland, Mr. Ihimaera was an acquaintance of a fellow countryman, Gil Harris, who teaches Shakespeare on our own GW faculty.

Mr. Ihimaera’s residency was a period of great excitement and interest; a Maori, he spoke about some of the problems facing indigenous peoples, especially indigenous artists, to a large audience; he showed his film not once but twice to large audiences, who asked him many questions; and he gave a very well attended reading from his fiction. He spoke around town, appearing at Georgetown University, the Field School, and elsewhere. He also visited several GW classes. The Embassy hosted a reception for about 100 people, which was attended by both the Ambassador and President Trachtenberg of GW.

2006
Diana Bellessi of Argentina, a poet, became our third WLR Fellow, thanks to the active involvement of Sergio Waisman, himself from Argentina, who teaches in GW’s Department of Romance, Germanic, and Slavic Languages and Literatures. A specialist in translation, he was able to help us with Ms. Bellessi’s public addresses and English class appearances, and was able to insure that she not only felt at home in Washington but also had plenty of students to meet with.

A wise, warm-hearted woman of great courage and wide experience, Ms. Bellessi touched everyone who met her. Ms. Bellessi visited half a dozen Spanish literature classes, and two English Department classes dealing with postcolonial literature. Also, CNN En Español interviewed her during her visit.

2007
Nokuthula Mazibuko, a fiction and non-fiction writer, and documentary filmmaker, came from South Africa to be our fourth WLR Fellow.

At GW, Ms. Mazibuko gave a public talk one evening; another evening, she screened a documentary movie about the 1976 student uprisings in Soweto; and on a third evening, she gave a public reading from one of her books. She also visited several classes, both in literature and in creative writing. She participated in a conference at Georgetown University, and was a guest of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she stayed for two nights, reading, showing her film, and meeting with faculty and students.

Thanks to the active involvement of the South African Embassy, Ms. Mazibuko also spoke at the Library of Congress, at the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art, and at the National Geographic Society. She visited students, faculty, and parents affiliated with GapBuster Learning Center, a community educational opportunity organization. Her vivid personality and generous candor made her many good friends during her month-long stay.

[composed by David McAleavey]

The month long residency of South African writer Nokuthula Mazibuko has come to an end. The Embassy of South Africa hosted a valedictory reception Tuesday evening at the residence of the ambassador, Her Excellence Barbara Masekela. Nokuthula returns to South Africa today. We wish her the best, especially as she looks forward to the birth of her child.

The English Department wishes to thank Dean Diana Lipscomb for funding the residency and encouraging an ambitious framing of the event; our friends at the South African embassy for suggesting Nokuthula Mazibuko as our writer in residence and for working so diligently to ensure it would happen (especially Mr. Freddie Jordaan, Mrs. Cecile Heppes, and Mr. D. Moyo); and all the students and faculty who contributed to the residency’s success. The World Literature Residency simply would not have happened without the energy, enthusiasm, and sheer willpower of Professor David McAleavey, director of GW’s Creative Writing Program. Our gratitude to you, David.

GW’s Fourth Annual World Literature Residency is now underway, with Nokuthula Mazibuko of South Africa in residence at George Washington University for a month, thanks to collaboration between Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and the South African Embassy.

Writer and director of documentary films, including The Spirit of No Surrender, Lady Was a Mshoza and The Gift of Song, Nokuthula Mazibuko also directed and produced news and inserts for the BBC’s Africa Bureau. Her two youth novellas, In the Fast Lane and A Mozambican Summer, were part of the New Africa Books Siyagruya Series. Mazibuko has directed documentary films on South African writers for the series Mantswe a Bonono. She is also the author of a work of non-fiction, Spring Offensive, and short fiction, Love Songs for Nheti and Other Tales, and has recently completed her dissertation (on Zakes Mda) for a PhD in African Literature at the University of Witwatersrand. She lives in Pretoria (Tswane), with her husband.

The World Literature Residency is designed to bring new ideas and writers from around the world to GW to develop a deeper awareness of the contemporary mission and accomplishments of literature in a global context. The links between GW and the embassies promotes understanding, not only by bringing a writer to students at GW but also by making that writer available in the Washington community at large. World Literature Residency Fellows are encouraged to visit public and private schools and other universities, and to take part in programs of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution. GW students pursuing creative writing, English and other literatures, and international affairs benefit from class visits and of course from the free public programs held on campus.

Nokuthula Mazibuko has given a talk (“Life Stories and Narratives of Exile: Memory and Memory-Making in South Africa,” Feb. 15), will be showing a documentary film (The Spirit of No Surrender, Feb. 20, 8 PM, Marvin Center Continental Ballroom), and will be reading from her writing (Mar. 1, 8 PM, Marvin Center Amphitheatre). All these events are free and open to the public. The Marvin Center is located at 800 21st St. NW.

Previous World Literature Residency Fellows have been Githa Hariharan (India, 2004), Witi Ihimaera (New Zealand, 2005), and Diana Bellessi (Argentina, 2006).

The English Department and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences are proud to announce that this year’s World Literature Residency is being held by South African writer Nokuthula Mazibuko. The World Literature Residency brings writers from across the globe to GW to lecture, read from their works, and visit undergraduate classes. Writers typically remain in residence for about a month, and are co-sponsored by their country’s embassy.

Born in 1973 in Soweto, Nokuthula Mazibuko has written well received short stories and youth novellas. She is the writer and director of two documentary films and several television shows. Her interests combine South African history, feminism, and African literature.

More information and some of her work can be found on her website, Thulacreative, where she offers:

Nokuthula writes to figure out the world, entertain and share ideas. She particularly enjoys writing for young people, as it puts her in touch with a world of endless hope and possibilities.

Ms. Mazibuko will be giving several public lectures here at GW as well as in the greater DC area. Please see our literary calendar for a complete listing. We are very proud to host Nokuthula Mazibuko’s residency, and invite you to meet her and to become acquainted with her work.