Welcome to Skill SWOPS 2027 (SS27) - we are THRILLED to have you!

SS27 is Wekina Productions and Storytellers, Writers, Orators, and Poets Society's flagship program where the next generation of literary artists are formed. This program is for writers at the beginning of their journeys. If no one knows you write, if you only write for yourself, if you’ve never been published before, or if you only think of writing as a hobby, you are a perfect fit for this!

SS27 is a series of online writing workshops taking place over Zoom from 7pm to 10pm PGT every Tuesday evening from January 2027 to December 2027. These sessions will be facilitated by award-winning writer, poet, and performer Lungol Wekina. He will mentor all participants in both literary techniques and political frameworks to build complex, thoughtful, and radical literary artists.

SS27 will consist of six (6) different autonomous workshop groups that will meet every six (6) weeks on Tuesday evenings. Each workshop has a maximum capacity of fifteen (15) writers. Participants are welcome to join any and all groups they feel they belong in, but will have to specify the order in which they want to join them should spaces be limited. Read more about the groups and how to qualify for them below.

Finally, this program is called ‘Skill SWOPS’ for a reason. Even if you’re early on in your writing journey, or just about to take your first step in it, you have the same capacity to teach me as I do you. We are not simply running classes, we are building relationships. And relationships are how we heal what has been broken in our world.

Important Dates
Applications Open: Friday 3rd July 11:59PM PGT
Applications Close: Friday 30th October 11:59PM PGT
Applicants Notified: Friday 27th November 11:59PM PGT

SS27 Groups

  • Papua New Guinea

    This group is exclusively for Indigenous Papua New Guineans. Priority will be given to writers living and working in Papua New Guinea, but members of the diaspora are more than welcome to apply.

  • Melanesia

    This group is exclusively for the First Nations peoples of Black Oceania. This includes the Melanesian Pacific Islands AND our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kin. Priority will be given to writers living and working on Country.

  • Pasifika

    This group is for the Indigenous people of the Pacific Islands. Priority will be given to writers living and working on their ancestral lands, but members of the diaspora are more than welcome to apply.

  • Noir

    This group is exclusively for writers racialised as Black. Priority will be given to dark-skinned and monoracial writers regardless of location.

  • First People

    This group is exclusively for Indigenous and First Nations peoples the world over. Priority will be given to writers living on Country/their ancestral lands.

  • Youth

    This group is exclusively for young people between the ages of 14 and 17. Indigenous, Black, and Pasifika writers are strongly encouraged to apply.