The Graduate Writing Seminar (GWS) was developed specifically to advance the progress of fellows doing graduate studies in South African universities. Participants work on a range of graduate writing projects required for the South African course of study, engaging in peer review and consulting with Mellon PhD faculty. The structure and outcomes are parallel to those of the Proposal Writing and Dissertation Development Seminar held in the U.S. each March. Participants leave the seminar with concrete next steps to help them progress in their writing projects and move forward in their pursuit of the graduate degree.