Clarisse Baleja Saïdi (b. Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) is a writer of Rwandan and Congolese (DRC) descent and of Ugandan and Canadian dual nationality. A graduate of the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, she’s received fellowships from Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Yaddo, ART OMI, and the Vermont Studio Center, among others. Her writing has been awarded the Theodore Roethke Poetry prize, Hopwood Prizes in fiction, nonfiction and drama , the John Wagner prize, a Marina Nemat Creative Writing Prize, Penguin Random House’s short story prize and more. She’s the recipient of Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council grants, and was a 2022-2023 Fine Arts Work Center fiction fellow.
Baleja is at work on a novel, among other projects. Her short form work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, POETRY magazine, Harvard College’s Transition Magazine and The Fiddlehead.
Writings
There is something magical about long form writing. I cherish the practice and privilege of first amassing then chiseling away at a narrative. Eventually, an order does emerge, a world that it turns out was always there.
Thank you for reading me in-between covers and projects. I am the occasional fellow, lecturer, teacher and reader, but mostly you’ll find me at a desk, editing a book on home, power and love, or crafting new work on much of the same—on being, othering, emerging and belonging.
I’m also learning to say the little things. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter, Virtual Village, where I try to connect with my digital and dispersed communities. Join us.
Offerings
I conduct courses, craft talks, and seminars. Stay tuned for upcoming workshops and classes.
Check out my LinkTree for archives and resources (like this free podcast interview on Artist Residencies) or sign up for the seasonal Virtual Village correspondence.
Clarisse Baleja Saidi is represented by literary agent Heather Schroder at Compass Literary.