The Rajat Neogy Editorial Fellowship is opening Applications for its 2026-2027 editorial fellowship at A Long House residence. The fellowship is targeting Africans and the editorial talents in Africa who have interests and care about literature and editorial quality. “We hope to keep developing and expanding the fellowship through the years, inspiring and nurturing a robust community of editors in Africa and its diaspora.”

This fellowship is a way to honor Rajat Neogy’s work, dedication, and memory: Transition. Founded in Uganda in 1961 when he was only 22, Transition, under the editorial guidance of Rajat Neogy, went on to publish some of the finest writers from Africa – Chinua Achebe, Es’kia Mphalele, Wole Soyinka, Bessie Head, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, among others – sometimes for the very first time.

Applications are open from July 21 and will close September 15, 2026. Successful fellows for the 2026/2027 tenure will be announced in October 2026. Fellows will work with A Long House throughout the one year tenure of the fellowship, at the end of which, they will be expected to produce a chapbook of no more than 50 pages.

The chapbook will be conceived and edited by the fellows, and it could be a work of essays, poems, or fiction, or a creative blend of all of these. The fellows will edit, not write the chapbooks. For the chapbooks, the fellows will be allowed creative freedom. This means they can have the chapbooks incorporate or make as its subject criticism, theory, photography, or art.

They also perform the following functions:

• Work with founding editors on soliciting, commissioning and editing the work of contributors.
• Cultivate and nurture relationships with contributors. This includes managing communication with contributors.
• Manage A Long House‘s editorial and publication calendar.
• Curate The Dispatch, A Long House‘s monthly newsletter.
• Work with founding editors on annual issues and other projects.
• Work with A Long House team on the Long Talk and A Short Talk series.
• Conceptualise, edit and publish a chapbook of not more than 50 pages.

There will be a $1000 award for the fellowship, a tote bag of books, and a period of mentorship with a select writer or editor of repute.

To be eligible, all applicants who are applying

• Should be between 18 – 40 years old.
• Should be Africans residing in Africa.
• Must demonstrate a deep interest in African literature and the ecosystems that nurture it.

To apply, please upload a motivation letter of not more than 500 words along with your CV as a single pdf on Submittable.

Submit below:

https://alonghouse.submittable.com/submit/258625/rajat-neogy-

Author

Paul Olayioye