Discipline: Literature – fiction

Mathapelo Mofokeng

Discipline: Literature – fiction
Region: Johannesburg, Gauteng, SOUTH AFRICA
MacDowell Fellowships: 2023

Mathapelo Mofokeng is a screenwriter and author from Johannesburg. In 2018, she completed an M.A. in scriptwriting at Goldsmiths, University of London, after being awarded the Chevening Scholarship.

Her short films have screened at BFI Soul Connect, Underwire, London Shorts, Aesthetica, and other festivals. Her short story and essay publications include Gagosian Quarterly, adda, Popshot Quarterly, Goldsmiths Press, and Catapult Best Short Stories Anthology.

In 2021, she was awarded the PEN America Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and was long-listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. In 2022 she was a finalist for the Tin House First Residency prize. She is a fellow of the Miles Morland Foundation for African Writers.

While at MacDowell in 2023, Mofokeng worked on the first draft of a short-story collection.

Studios

Mansfield

Mathapelo Mofokeng worked in the Mansfield studio.

The Helen Coolidge Mansfield Studio was donated by graduates of the Mansfield War Service Classes for Reconstruction Aides. Helen Mansfield helped found the New York MacDowell Club. The small, shingled frame structure with stone foundation was originally fronted on the west side by a neat white picket fence and gate, a garden, and a stone pathway…

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