Contact:
Murewa Olubela
murewa.olubela@singlestory.org
TSSF Announces BoD and AB Members and Launches Two Publications
TAMPA (Oct. 17, 2016) – The Single Story Foundation (TSSF) today announces the appointment of five members to its Board of Directors and five members to its Publications Advisory Board, as well as the launch of its two publications.
The selected 5-member Board of Directors includes Taiye Selasi, Chris Abani, Chika Unigwe, Okey Ndibe and TSSF Founder Murewa Olubela. The Publication Advisory Board members consist of Tolu Oloruntoba, Chris Ogunlowo, Ayo Sogunro, Mia Farraday and Kacy Cunningham.
“We are very pleased to welcome our board of directors and advisory board,” said Murewa Olubela, Founder of TSSF. “Their experience and leadership will definitely serve the Foundation well.”
Taiye Selasi describes herself as a local of Accra, Berlin, New York and Rome. Her 2013 debut novel, Ghana Must Go, bought and published by Penguin Press, received much critical acclaim.
Chris Abani is a prolific novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He is the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize, a Guggenheim Award, among others.
Chika Unigwe is the author of four novels, as well as numerous short stories and essays. She won the 2003 BBC Short Story Competition and the 2012 NLG Prize for Literature. She currently was shortlisted for the 2016 NLG Prize for Literature and is a judge for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize.
Okey Ndibe is the author of Foreign Gods, Inc., Arrows of Rain, and his current memoir: Never Look an American in the Eye: Flying Turtles, Colonial Ghosts, and the Making of a Nigerian-American. He was the founding editor of Chinua Achebe’s international magazine, African Commentary.
The Board of Directors will work to ensure the Foundation achieves its vision and mission. The Board will advocate, establish, and implement appropriate policies and procedures. It also will participate actively in resource development, and exercise stewardship and appropriate oversight over the Foundation.
In addition, the Foundation appoints five members consisting of fiction writers, non-fiction writers, and poets to its Publication Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will single-blind peer review journal and magazine submissions. Members will sometimes write editorials for the publications.
The Advisory Board will complement the TSSF Board of Directors. Members will be asked to tackle specific issues raised by the TSSF editorial team and to generate ideas and opportunities. Members were selected through an open selection process.
TSSF also announces the launch of both its visual literary magazine and online literary journal. The magazine will feature diverse contents such as fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, visual art, and photography. The journal will only feature fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry contents. Submission calls will open on Nov. 1 and May 1 each year.
“The two publications are one of the initiatives we’re undertaking at TSSF to provide storytelling opportunities for Africans at home and abroad,” said Olubela. “I’m excited to see how to see how it goes. I’m also looking forward to fleshing out, solidifying and announcing other news we will have in the future.
For more information about the magazine, visit www.magazine.singlestory.org. And for more information about the magazine, visit www.journal.singlestory.org.
About The Single Story Foundation
The Single Story Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing storytelling opportunities for Africans at home and in diaspora. Its goal is to challenge and bring about change in the telling of African stories and foster a commitment to young Africans by promoting their technological, creative, educational, imaginative achievements and developments. For more information on The Single Story Foundation, visit www.singlestory.org.
