Deadline: Sept. 10, 2018.
Afro Anthology x Enkare Review call for short story submissions from writers of African citizenship or African descent. So, submit a fictional work that centers around a blind protagonist or has blindness as its core theme. There are over five million blind citizens in Africa and over 285 million suffer from visual impairment of some kind.
Send short stories that revolve around a visually challenged character, stories that show the anxieties, travails, and triumphs of the blind as they grapple with their condition. Word count is between 4,000 to 10,000. Imagine the struggle and life of a blind person as a citizen, mother, sister, father, a resident in a neighborhood, a friend, a son, a daughter, atheist, queer, feminist, religionist.
Explore this theme of blindness in any fictional genre that comes readily: magical realism, surrealism, realism, sci-fi, horror, fantasy and others. Let’s use the richness of our human imagination to craft memorable blind protagonists devoid of sentimentality and dehumanization, blind protagonists with naturalness and normality, human beings full of flaws, full of hopes and aspiration, capable of joy, sadness, and breathing. The emphasis is on stories that challenge lazy stereotypes of blindness.
They will publish the anthology on World Sight Day 2018, Oct. 11, in recognition of blind citizens and to draw attention to blindness and visual impairment. Basit Jamiu, editor and founder of the Afro Anthology Series, will compile and edit the anthology. And Dr. Lizzy Attree, former director of the Caine Prize and co-founder of the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature, will introduce it.
Email your story as a single attachment to submission.blindpro@gmail.com. Your work should be saved in one of the following file formats: .doc or .docx. Include a short bio of not more 200 words with your submission.
Do not send poetry, creative nonfiction, etc. Only submit short stories for this anthology. This anthology will only feature six short stories by African writers.