Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. He serves as Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He is the recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other awards.

His reviews, essays and cultural criticism have been featured in The Atlantic, The Baffler, BBC News, The Drift, High Country News, Lithub, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, Vulture, The Washington Post, and elsewhere.

Tope was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Masters’ degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster.

HoCoPoLitSo is pleased to announce that its long-standing Bauder Writer-in-Residence and school programs are now significantly supported by a generous endowment from Dr. Lillian Bauder, community leader and resident of Columbia known for investing in educational access and advancement. Since the 1960’s, Lillian and her late husband Don have been engaged in civil rights and social justice efforts, and have supported the arts. Since the 1960’s, Lillian and her late husband Don have been engaged in civil rights and social justice efforts, and have supported the arts.