Greek Creative Incubator Oxbelly Reveals 2023 Writers Retreat Participants (EXCLUSIVE)

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Greek non-profit creative incubator Oxbelly has revealed the participants of its 2023 retreat for writers in episodic, fiction and poetry.

Founded by producer and Faliro House founder Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Oxbelly is known for its screenwriters and directors labs — which run under the artistic direction of Athina Rachel Tsangari — and draws a number of international filmmakers every summer to Greece. Past participating mentors include Maren Ade, Michael Almereyda, Paul Thomas Anderson, Willem Dafoe, Dee Rees and Lulu Wang.

Advisors for the 2023 program include Barry Jenkins, Rebecca Makkai, Nadifa Mohamed, Sue Naegle, Fiammetta Rocco, Anuradha Roy, Vera Santamaria, Anna Winger, Jörg Winger, Lulu Wang, Graham Yost and Tsangari.

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The 2023 writers retreat, which took place in June, was led by program director Chigozie Obioma. The episodic program supported writers interested in entering a career in television by unpacking the many facets of the role of television writer through sessions that included a series of simulated writers room exercises, led by showrunner advisors and program advisor Jen Blake.

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Earlier this year, former Sundance Institute director Caroline von Kuhn was appointed executive director of Oxbelly.

Later this week, Oxbelly will open a call for the 2024 retreat, which will include programs for screenwriters, episodic writers and fiction writers.

In the inaugural year of Oxbelly’s episodic program and writers retreat, 27 fellows were selected from over 1600 submissions from 77 countries. The reason for the delayed announcement of the fellows is that the organizers held back on any press or social media coverage in solidarity with the WGA writers strike going on concurrently in the U.S.

2023 Oxbelly Fellows

Akpa Arinzechukwu (Nigeria) – Poetry
Tomàs Bayo Encontra (Spain) – Episodic
Lauren Delapenha (U.S./Jamaica) – Poetry
Mazpa Ejikem (Nigeria) – Fiction
Bane Fakih (Lebanon) – Episodic
Njelle Hamilton (U.S./Jamaica) – Fiction
Maria Hatzakou (Greece) – Episodic
Onyekachi Iloh (Nigeria) – Poetry
Ioanna Kryona (Greece) – Episodic
Erini Loucaides (Cyprus) – Fiction
Fisnik Maxville (Kosovo/Switzerland) – Episodic
Khaddafina Mbabazi (Uganda) – Fiction
Elisa Mishto (Germany/Italy) – Episodic
Zodwa Nyoni (Zimbabwe/U.K.) – Episodic
Tochukwu Okafor (Nigeria) – Fiction
Gladwell Pamba (Kenya) – Fiction
James Papoutsis (Canada/Greece) – Fiction
Christopher Radcliff (China/U.S.) – Episodic
Sheena Raza Faisal (India) – Fiction
Laura Reece Hogan (U.S.) – Poetry
Hilke Rönnfeldt (Germany) – Episodic
Sid Sagar (U.K/India) – Episodic
Angie Sijun Lou (U.S./China) – Fiction
Louise Silverio (France) – Episodic
Esther Sun (U.S./China) – Poetry
Beru Tessema (Ethiopia/U.K.) – Episodic
Yasmine Zohdi (Egypt) – Fiction

The 2024 retreat will be held June 22-30 in Costa Navarino, Greece. There is no cost to apply and all expenses for fellows are covered.

The Oxbelly retreat is supported by Faliro House, the Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation and Costa Navarino.

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