Deadline: 30 September 2016. Submit your short stories to the African Pen Short Story Competition. African Pen provides an online platform to publish, support and celebrate the creative writing of all those with a deep connection to Africa. To be eligible for the competition, you must be born, living and working in an African country, or of African descent but living [ … ]
Closed: Praxis Magazine Online Poetry Contest
Deadline: Oct. 31. Praxis Magazine Online on Sept. 7 announced its first Praxis Magazine Online Poetry Contest anthology. It will begin to accept entries for the contest from Oct. 1. So, you’ve got about a month to prepare for the submission. Praxis Magazine Online will hold its poetry contest annually. It will select the best poems, chosen by a judge, for publications [ … ]
Closed: 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Deadline: Nov. 1, 2016. Commonwealth Writers calls for submission to its 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. It awards the prize to the writer of the best unpublished short fiction written in English by a Commonwealth country citizen. The panel of judges places entries into five regions: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Regional winners receive £2,500 and the [ … ]
Closed: 2016 Etisalat Flash Fiction Award
2016 Etisalat Flash Fiction Award Deadline: Oct. 14. Etisalat on Sept. 1 opened its 2016 Etisalat Flash Fiction Award. All you have to do is write 300 words of fiction. Etisalat opens its award to all African writers, resident anywhere in the world. As long as you haven’t previously published any short story, you can submit entries to the 2016 [ … ]
Closed: aKoma Media Launches Amplify Fellowship
aKoma Media, with Mastercard Foundation, launch Amplify Fellowship, a six-month content-creating fellowship. Only people living in Lagos, Nairobi, and Kigali can apply. It will select 25 Amplify fellows to receive training and mentoring. aKoma is “Africa’s content network, where stories are created, discovered, and shared.” It is also a “community of creators, influencers, storytellers and audiences sharing diverse narratives on Africa and its diaspora” (akomat.com). [ … ]
Closed: 2016 Artists In Residency (AIR)
Deadline: Sept. 30, 2016. The Africa Centre opens its call for the 2016 Artists In Residency program. This year’s residency consists of a four weeks of residence at the Bellagio Center on Lake Como, Italy. Africa Centre seeks fiction and non-fiction writers, playwrights, poets, video/filmmakers, composers, and visual artists, whose work is inspired by or relates to global or social issues. Residents and their spouses [ … ]
Closed: Enkare Review Maiden Issue
Deadline: Oct. 15, 2016. Enkare Review opens call for submissions for its maiden issue. Enkare Review is a literary magazine that aims to discover new strong voices in the literary scape and to showcase their talents. Send previously unpublished short fiction, poetry, essays, reviews, interviews, letters and visual art, written in English, to submissions@enkare.org. Enkare Review will also accept translations. It [ … ]
Closed: Small Island Anthology Call
Deadline: Oct. 5, 2016 (11:59 p.m.). Commonwealth Writers seeks previously unpublished works, written in English, from Commonwealth islands writers for publication in its new Small Island Anthology. Submit poetry, short stories, and non-fiction (creative non-fiction, memoir, and photo essay, or narrative essay), written from an island perspective. Send your 1,500 – 6,000 words short story, or a completed first draft. Also, include a [ … ]
Closed: Afridiaspora Anthology Maiden Call
Deadline: Sept. 30, 2016. Afridiaspora announces a call for submission of the maiden edition of its Afridiaspora anthology, a quarterly publication. The maiden edition’s theme is ‘My Africa, My City.’ It seeks stories and arts that showcase the colourful cities of Africa. Afridiaspora will publish the anthology as a free downloadable e-book. Submit your original unpublished work in the following [ … ]
The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multi-Lingual Texts
Deadline: Aug. 31. Lunch Ticket, a twice-yearly literary and art journal, hosts the Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multi-Lingual Texts. Submit previously unpublished translated works through Lunch Ticket’s Submittable. You can submit a 5000-word prose or up to 10 pages of poetry. Please note that you can submit only one piece, once per genre, once per submission period. Gabo Prize [ … ]
Desi Writers’ Lounge (DWL) Short Story Contest
Deadline: Aug. 31, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. (Pakistan Standard Time). Desi Writers’ Lounge (DWL), a peer reviewed online South Asian literary magazine, opens its short story contest submissions. You can submit up to 5,000 words previously unpublished short stories for the contest. Submit only entries written in English. Send your Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) attachments entry to info(at)desiwriterslounge(dot)net. Include the title of [ … ]
2016 RL Poetry Award
Deadline: Aug 15. Submit to The Poetry Mail‘s 2016 RL Poetry Award for a chance to publish your poetry manuscript. You should submit eight to 10 poems from your currently working on or completed manuscript. Your manuscript can consist of only unpublished poems, or it can be a mix of both published and unpublished poems. Your entry would be just one single [ … ]
Closed: 2016 Ake Review Submission Call
Deadline: Friday, Aug. 26, 2016. The Ake Arts and Book Festival calls for entries for its 2016 Ake Review. The Ake Review is an annual multi-lingual literary journal that serves as a vehicle for the promotion and celebration of African culture. You can submit original and unpublished prose, poetry, and artwork that centers around this years “beneath this skin” theme. [ … ]
Closed: EXPOUND Woman Issue Call
Deadline: Oct. 31, 2016. Going with its African focused Special Issue tradition, EXPOUND has opened calls for its special EXPOUND woman issue. This issue will exclusively explore and appreciate African female writers and artists. As an African woman, you should apply. This issue will be guest edited by Safia Elhillo and Unoma Azuah. Sudanese Safia Elhillo is a Canem fellow and poetry editor for Kinfolks Quarterly: a journal [ … ]
Closed: Bloody Parchment 2016 Submission Calls
Deadline: Oct. 31, 2016. The South African HorrorFest Bloody Parchment team opens its 2016 competition. The Bloody Parchment team seeks horror, dark fantasy and science fiction short stories and novellas. Any African writer can apply. The Bloody Parchment short story competition aims to develop talented voices in the horror, dark fantasy and weird genres. It offers a platform to boost finalists. A winner [ … ]
Jalada Fear Anthology Now Open
Deadline: Oct. 15. Jalada, on July 20, opened its call out for its Jalada Fear anthology, its sixth edition. You can submit previously unpublished fiction, poetry, visual art and essays that deal with fear. Any type of fear is fair game. Whether it’s the fear of the Other, the fear of death, the fear of failure or success, fear as a weaponised [ … ]
2016 The Nigeria Prize for Literature Shortlist
Since its inception in 2004, Nigeria LNG Limited has sponsored The Nigeria Prize for Literature. The prize brings Nigerian authors to the public’s attention and celebrates their excellence. As a result, Nigeria LNG Limited awards the prize to only Nigerian writers. Although initially a $20,000 win, the prize’s monetary reward since has been raised to $100,000 since 2011. The prize rotates around the [ … ]
Closed: 2016 African Writer’s Residency Award (AWRA)
Deadline: June 30, 2016 (6 p.m. CET) The African Writer’s Residency Award is awarded by the Sylt Foundation and the Goethe-Institut. The award offers a two-month residency to contemporary African lit. writers. Also, the winner will receive a stipend of €1,500, return travel tickets and visa fees. The Award is open to published writers of fiction, poetry, prose, and plays. Applicants must be African writers, whether living in [ … ]
Closed: new Art new Audiences (nAnA) East African Call
Deadline: July 31, 2016. British Council in Kenya is calling on cultural partners to apply for grants to facilitate the creation of new art to showcase to new audiences in the UK and East Africa as part of its new Art new Audiences (nAnA) program. Only people born/living in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and the UK can apply. East Africa Arts connects new audiences [ … ]
Closed: 2017 Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature
Deadline: Oct. 7, 2016. Presented by Tafelberg Publishing, the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature seeks to develop high quality literature for teenage readers (ages 12-18). The competition is only open to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland citizens. You can submit your writings in one of the six language categories: English, Afrikaans, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Nguni and Sotho. Each category will have two prizes: R12,000 [ … ]