Deadline: July 16, 2017 (5 pm).
Jacana Literary Foundation currently accepts submission for its Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award and Anthology. Writers should submit previously unpublished poems in any of the 11 South African languages. It encourages entrants to submit poems written in their mother tongue.
Providing no set theme, the Foundation hopes the Award “reflects the complex, nuanced and uncomfortable truths of life in South Africa”. It welcomes poems that reflect current realities as well as poetry that gives voice to things unsaid.
To be eligible, you must be a South African citizen residing in South Africa. Also, poets may enter in more than one language. Submit a maximum of three poems via Jacana Literary Foundation’s website. Save and upload each poem (up to three) as separate Word documents (doc or docx).
The judges read blind. So ensure your name does not appear on the Word document. Hence, the Word document should only include the title and poem. And save the file with the title of the poem. Also, format your document with Ariel, size 11 or Times New Roman, size 12. Do not include fancy fonts, borders or images in the Word document. Handwritten entries are not eligible.
Jacana Literary Foundation will award R6000, R4000 and R2000 to the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award and Anthology winners. The three poets will attend an awards ceremony and book launch at the Nirox Foundation Word Festival Oct. 21- 22, 2017 in Johannesburg.
Finally, a long list of the best poems entered will be selected by the judging panel and published in Volume 6 of the anthology, which will be launched at the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival.
For more information, contact the Jacana Literary Foundation on awards@jacana.co.za.