Welcome to our website. Almasi League is a Writer in Residence programme with two aims: to support the development of emerging writers from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and to develop the audience for such writing in East London.
Almasi League is run by Newham New Deal Partnership, led by writer Courttia Newland, and funded by Arts Council England.
In its second year, the project is supporting six emerging writers to develop their craft, to broaden their industry networks and build their confidence in pursuing a life and career as a writer through a mentee programme.
Over the year we will also organise workshops and readings open to the community to participate. We will hold public presentations that include the work of our new writers in a bid to widen the audience for BAME writing and literature.
Courttia Newland has toured for the British Council and has been a writer-in-residence for Trinity College and Georgetown University. Courttia’s publications include The Scholar, Society Within, Snake Skin and The Gospel According to Cane.
The video above shows excerpts from an evening showcasing their work, held on February 2015 at the University of East London, and includes Writer in Residence Courttia Newland talking about the programme. The writers selected through open competition for the first Almasi League programme were: Mabel Aghadiuno, Farah Ahamed, Prashant Kapoor, Ionie Richards, Damien Nembhard, Denrele Ogunwa, Tox Mahogany, Hazel Tsoi-Wiles, and Stephanie Victoire.