There are quite a number of writing competitions for writers
from African countries, those writing about Africa, or associated with Africa
in any other way. Most of the prizes have had quite a positive impact in acting
as breeding grounds for the varying categories of writers, upcoming, new, and
established, who have something to do with the continent and they will
discussed in brief in the text below. If you’re looking for opportunities for
’Zimbabwean’ writers in 2018, see (this page).
Africa
Day 2018 Writing Competition
DEADLINE:
Usually May
The competition by the Irish Aid and The Irish
Times is meant to promote emerging, aspiring, and established writers, for the
celebration of Africa Day. The competition is a short story and poetry
competition, and it currently in its third year. The competition seeks to
discover new writing talent, as well as further publicize established writers.
There
should be 'African', in whatever sense possible and the story is has to be set
in either Ireland or Africa. Submission maximum word counts are as follows, primary
school children 250 words, secondary 1,000 words, adults 2,000 words. The prize includes, winning entry
publication at Irish Times, the same day as the flagship Africa Day event
in Dublin. Winners will receive a selection of books to the value of €50 each.
There will also be a
photographic presentation at The Irish Times. Application or submission
can be made on the Africa Day 2018 Writing Competition
page.
Universal
Postal Union (UPU) International Letter-Writing Competition 2018 for Young
People
Deadline:
May 5, 2018.
The
competition has been running annually since 1971 and seen millions of young
participants from all over the world, up to age 15. The contest aims to
encourage literacy in children and young people, with a hope to develop their
skills in composition and ability to express their thoughts clearly. The
contest also makes them aware of the important role postal services play in the
world. The competition is fully funded to UPU HQ in Berne, Switzerland.
Annually,
the UPU announces a theme and the participating countries have to organize the
competition at a national level with support from its Post and often with the
support of education authorities. All
entries are to be submitted through the national Post. Country-by-country then
chooses a winner within the nation and the entry is submitted to the
international round, that is held by the Universal Postal Union for final
selection of winners and special mentions.
Read more
about the Universal Postal Union (UPU)
International Letter-Writing Competition 2018 for Young People on the link
Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition
2018
Deadline: June
1st
(Please
check official link for dates), and to find out what countries are in the
common wealth.
See more on
the link about the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2018 for young
writers from Commonwealth Nations (Fully Funded to London)
Short
Story Day Africa Prize
Deadline:
Submission period: June and July and 2018.
The first
prize for the Short Story Day Africa is $800, second prize is $200, and third
prize is $100.
And, three
emerging writers will receive a 20 week online creative writing course.
Short Story Day Africa announces a theme
annually and participants are welcome to submit unpublished stories in any
fiction genre. The stories must be between 3000 and 5000 words in length. Stories
to the Short Story Day Africa must be submitted online via Submittable.
The Caine Prize for African Writing
Deadline:
January 31, 2018-2019
The prize
is one the renowned writing prize in Africa. The Caine Prize for African
Writing is a prize for literature that is awarded to an African writer of a
short story published in English. Since launching in the year 2000, its aim has
been to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing
by bringing it to a wider audience internationally. Focusing on the short story
shows the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition. The
Caine Prize only accepts published stories and submissions should be made by
publishers only. And only fictional work is eligible. Other works that are not
eligible include stories for children, factual writing, plays, biography, and
works shorter than 3000 words. For more about work eligibility, email
info@caineprize.com.
The award
for winning the contest is £10,000 and an invitation to go to three literature
festivals in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. There's a travel award for each
of the short-listed candidates and the candidates will also receive a Prize of
£500.
The
Yeovil Literary Prize 2018
Deadline:
May 31, 2018
Entry fees:
5 GBP (approx. 7 USD ).
Ages: 16
and above only
The prize
is organized by the Yeovil Community Arts Association, it is an opportunity to
enter four very different categories of writing and aspiring writers throughout
the world are encouraged to participate. The four categories of the competition
include;
Novel:
maximum of 15,000 words, including synopsis and opening chapters,
Short
Story: maximum of 2,000 words.
Poetry:
maximum of 40 lines.
Writing
Without Restrictions: an open category.
All entries
must be in English, must be original works of the entrant, must not have been
previously self-published, broadcast, or accepted for publication.
The Prizes
for the winners are as follows;
Novel: 1st
1000 GBP; 2nd 250 GBP; 3rd 100 GBP
Short Story: 1st 500 GBP; 2nd 200 GBP; 3rd 100
GBP
Poetry: 1st
500 GBP; 2nd 200 GBP; 3rd 100 GBP
Writing without Restrictions: 1st 200 GBP; 2nd
100 GBP; 3rd 50 GBP
BBC
International Radio Playwriting Competition 2018
The
playwriting competition is open worldwide to anyone aged 18 or over and living
outside the UK –
whether you’re an
established writer, completely new or anywhere in between. The competition is
hosted by BBC World Service and the British Council. Participants are required
to write a radio play of around fifty minutes in length, on a subject of their
choice. The maximum number of central characters is: 6 and there mustn't be
protagonist roles for children.
The word
count is approximately 9000-10000 words.
The
competition's prizes –
one for writers with English as a First Language and another for writers with
English as a Second Language. The prize for each of the two winners will
consist of 2,200 GBP ( approx. 2,900 USD ) sterling and a trip to London to see
the winning play being recorded for broadcast on the BBC World Service. There’s the Georgi Markov prize in
addition, for the most promising script, this prize gives the winner a chance
visit London for a specified time.
See the
link to enter the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition 2018.
Writivism
Short Story Prize 2018
Deadline:
Usually March 31, at midnight GMT
The prize
is an annual award for emerging African writers; it is administered by (CACE)
Center for African Cultural Excellence.
Entrants to
the contest must be unpublished writers that are resident in an African
country.
Entries to
the prize which must be English or French, and 2,500 – 3,500 words long are to be emailed to
info@writivism.com as attachments (not in the body email), clearly labeled in
the subject: 2018 Writivism Short Story Prize Submission. The writer must
include in the body of the email, other information about him/her, as country
of residence, age, legal name and pen name (where applicable) and telephone
contact. The prizes include; for short listed writers, they may be invited to
attend the annual Writivism Festival in Kampala, Uganda, which is held in
August, and will each be awarded $100 (USD) cash. Prize winner will bag $400 (USD) cash and
might be considered for a one month writing residency at a university in an
African country.
Use this
link to enter the Writivism Short Story Prize 2018
Africa
Book Club Short Reads Annual Competition
Deadline:
June 30, 2018. Winner announcements-July 15
Africa Book
Club welcomes submissions for its Africa Book Club Short Reads Competition,
entries can be from writers across the continent, and the Diaspora, and stories
from non-African nationals contextually set in Africa. The goal for this
competition is to promote African literature and increase knowledge of Africa
through supporting creative writing.
Africa Book
Club accepts unpublished fiction and creative non-fiction submissions, not more
than 3,500 words.
1st Prize – $250
2nd Prize – $150
3rd Prize – $100
Other
accepted entries, which will be included in our annual anthology – $25 per entry.
Top 30
stories from all submissions received in the submission period (January 1 – June 30), will be considered for
our annual short story anthology.
The
Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books.
Deadline:
See official page on the link below for details
The prize
is restricted to citizens of an African country. A copy of a passport or
comparable document will be required of winners and long listed entrants. There
are no restrictions on age or race. Genre: Unpublished manuscript for an early
chapter book targeting readers aged 9 to 11 years old. Stories must be set in
Africa or have a very evident African content.
Prize:
$5,000 (USD), the opportunity to publish with and receive royalties from Golden
Baobab’s African and
international publishing partners. Deadline: March 31, 2018.
Koffi
Addo Writivism Prize for Non-Fiction 2018
The Koffi
Addo Writivism Prize for creative non-fiction is run by CACE. Awards are for
emerging African writers who are yet to be published and participants must also
be resident in an African country to be eligible.
Stories
should not be under 2,500 or over 3,500 words and entries are to be sent as an
attachment to info@writivism.com with the email titled as 2018 Koffi Addo
Prize.
Contact
information such as country of residence, age, legal name and pen name and
telephone contact are to be included in the body of the email.
Winner of
the competition receives $500 (USD) cash and possibly a one-month writing
residency. The winner has to produce a complete first draft of a publishable
manuscript before the residency. A CACE partner publisher will then publish the
edited manuscript, under the Writivism Series.
Shortlisted
writers will edit their stories with a commissioned editor prior to publication
in the annual Writivism anthology. Also, CACE may also invite them to attend
the annual Writivism Festival in Kampala, Uganda, in August 2018.
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