February Opportunities for African Writers
Book publication, prizes up to £5000, free membership
This newsletter is published every Wednesday.
Creative & Content Writing
1. Masobe Books Call for Submissions 2024
Masobe Books, a leading publisher in Nigeria, committed to promoting diverse voices and compelling narratives, is pleased to announce the opening of a 2024 submissions window for new manuscripts. This exciting opportunity is aimed at discovering fresh voices in literature from the African Continent.
Deadline: 31st March 2024. | Prize: Book publication
How to apply:
Genres: We are open to a wide range of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and more. This year however, our focus is on Romance.
Manuscript Format: Please submit the first three chapters of your manuscripts in standard manuscript format, double-spaced, with 12-point font. Include a cover letter with a brief author bio, a detailed synopsis of your work and contact information.
Submission Process: Visit our website at www.masobebooks.com/submissions/. Click on the link titled SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT and fill the submissions form.
Selection Process: Our editorial team will carefully review all submissions, considering originality, style, and thematic relevance and depth. Selected authors will be notified within 8 to 16 weeks.
2. Now Open: The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2024
The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize is awarded by The Alpine Fellowship, a charitable foundation that supports, commissions and showcases artists, writers, academics and playwrights.. The 2024 Prize will be awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of ‘Language’.
Deadline: 1st March 2024, 23:59 (UK time) | Prize: Total of £5,000 + full sponsorship to symposium.
Rules:
All genres of writing are permitted, including fiction, non-fiction and non-academic essays.
Open to all nationalities.
Applicants must be aged 18 or above at the time of entry.
All entries must be written in English.
Applicants can only enter one of our prizes.
Limited to one entry per person.
Submissions must be standalone and cannot be extracted from a larger piece.
A maximum of 2,500 words per entry.
Stories must not have been published (not including self-published), or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been placed in another competition at any time.
Travel expenses can be used for economy travel costs only and are not exchangeable for cash, any leftover travel budget will not be redeemed as cash.
Travel expenses can be used for transport only, and can not be used towards accommodation outside of the dates of our symposium.
Submissions will be judged anonymously, so please ensure that your name does not appear anywhere on your work.
Apply to Alpine by clicking here.
3. Instincts Magazine Call for Entries
Instincts! is a collection of short stories exploring the intricacies of the human experience. We are looking for submissions for the next printed issue with theme: our sensitivities. “"Our Sensitivities" is about our individual sparks. It's about the song that makes you cry and the smell that reminds you of your first day of school. It's about our individual tastes that makes us who we are. What do you see in the world that no one else does?”—Instincts!
Deadline: 1st March 2024. | Renumeration: Unstated
Things to note:
Please submit files as a pdf
Images should be 72dpi CMYK
Please use the following naming convention: Summer2023.Category_Listed.ArtistName.Title_of_work.Yearofproduction
Categories include: Illustrations, Comics, Short Comics, Flashfiction, Longer Prose, Poetry and Critical Essays (exploring women's rights, women's health and women's history.)
To find out more about each category and to submit, click the button below.
4. LAIPA Association Free Annual Membership
The Literary Alliance of Independently Published Authors is offering free annual memberships worth $150 to writers, passionate about independent publishing, who wish to benefit from the community and resources.
Deadline: Unstated. | Prize: Free regular annual membership
How to access
Visit their website.
Click ‘Join’ and select membership plan.
Use code ‘legacy2018’ at checkout.
5. Doek Magazine: Call for Creative Nonfiction
Doek! is a free, independent, and Pan-African online literary magazine produced in Windhoek, Namibia. The editorial team is interested in considering submissions that discuss a wide variety of topics in interesting styles; prospective nonfiction writers and visual artists should read previous issues of Doek! to see the themes and topics that have been previously explored.
Deadline: 29th February 2024. | Renumeration: unstated
Submission guidelines:
Writers must be Namibian citizens living in the country or in the diaspora (outside Namibia); or African writers, or those of African descent, living on the continent or in the diaspora (such as North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, or elsewhere).
Only original work will be considered. Previously published work (in any medium, including social media or personal blogs) is not accepted.
Novels and manuscript excerpts, film scripts and plays, journalistic reportage or columns, management or business guides, and “self-help” texts are not eligible for consideration.
Submissions must be written in English. Writers and poets may use words or phrases from any of Namibia’s indigenous languages provided their meaning can be understood within the text (without resort to glossaries or footnotes).
Submissions must be typed: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 2.0 line spacing. They can be sent in any of the following formats: Microsoft Word (.docx and .doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and plain text (.txt). It must not exceed 4000words.
The submitted document should only contain the title and the body text of the submission. No identifying details (name, contact number, or email address) may be used in the filename or be placed anywhere in the submission document.
Simultaneous submissions (submissions which have been sent to other literary magazines) are permitted and should be retracted when accepted for publication elsewhere.
Writers and artists must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submitting their writings.
6. Open: Lọúnlọún, Pan-African Literary Journal for Historical Fiction
Lọúnlọún was founded by Nigerian writer Victor Ola-Matthew on December 25, 2023 as a literary journal focused on historical fiction set during historical events that have shaped and defined places and times in Africa, as well as the experiences of those who lived through the events, or didn’t. They are now accepting historical fiction for the next issue.
Deadline: 26th February 2024. | Renumeration: unstated
Submission guidelines:
African writers, and those of African descent, home and abroad, are eligible to submit.
Only submissions in fiction are accepted, with a 2000 to 5000 word range.
Only original pieces will be considered. Previously published pieces are not accepted.
Submissions should be in Times New Roman, size 12, double-spaced, and submitted in Word document format.
Submissions should be in English, or translated to English. Writers are however allowed creative freedom with the expression of their languages.
Submissions must be based on an event that has happened on the continent, or affected the continent, regardless of where characters in the telling are located.
Submissions may contain photos, if desired, with appropriate source crediting. This is however not a guarantee it will be used.
Submissions must contain a brief historical setting description (max 3 sentences) which could either describe the historical events in telling, dedicate the work to the event and/or lives in telling, or both.
Submissions must have at least two references, with links, to the historical events in telling.
We accept simultaneous submissions, but let us know promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere.
To submit your work, send an email to submissions@lounloun.com with the subject ‘Fiction Submission.’ In the body of the email include your third-person bio and attach the story. Please ensure the story has references and is in Word document format.
Source: Brittle Paper
7. Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine is open for submissions
They are looking for submissions of art, fiction, and non-fiction from artists and writers from Africa and the African Diaspora. “We are very much interested in works that explore alternative futures for Africa and people of African descent. We would also like to see explorations of the past as well as new interpretations of myths, folklore and magic.”- Omenana
Deadline: 15th February | Prize: $20 per story
Submission requirements:
Fiction and art must be speculative (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror or Magical Realism) and must involve characters, settings or themes directly related to the African continent. All stories and art must be in English (translations welcome), must be original works (no fan fiction, sorry), and previously unpublished.
All work must be submitted by e-mail to sevenhills.media@yahoo.com as a single attachment in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .odt.
Include a cover letter in the body of your e-mail providing your contact details (name – not the pseudonym you write under – address, email and phone number), a brief publication history, a bio of no more than 100 words and a profile photo.
Both fiction and non-fiction should please follow this Standard Manuscript Format.
Short fiction should be no more than 5,000 words.
Creative non-fiction and essays should be no more than 3,000 words.
Flash fiction pieces should not exceed 1,000 words each.
Reviews should be between 800 and 2,000 words.
Graphic fiction and visual art should be sent in as a .jpg file.
Please don’t send revised drafts of works that you have previously submitted, unless they specifically ask for them.
Do not send art if it has been published anywhere other than on your portfolio unless they specifically request it.
Technical Writing
1. Internet Society Early Career Fellowship Application
The Internet Society is a global charitable organisation empowering people to keep the Internet a force for good: open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. Their Early Career Fellowship empowers a new, diverse generation of Internet champions who will bridge the gap between technology and policy, becoming advocates for the open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet.
Deadline: 7th February 2024, 23:59 UTC. | Prize: Fellowship + Stipend
Conditions to apply:
You must have an undergraduate/vocational degree or at least three years of work experience in an Internet-related field
Less than ten years of working experience in an Internet-related field
An innovative and impactful project proposal for growing and/or strengthening the Internet
Reliable access to a broadband Internet connection and relevant device
The availability to fully participate in the 5-month experience
Proficiency in verbal and written English.
2. RemoTasks is seeking writers to train AI in African languages
RemoTasks is a platform for independent contracting. They are currently seeking individuals who write fluently in Afrikaans, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Xhosa to help train AI systems.
Deadline: Unstated. | Pay: $14.88/hr - $21.96/hr
Preferred qualifications:
You should apply if you meet any of these (or anything similar you think makes you a good fit).
Professional Translator
Enrollment or completion of an undergraduate program in a humanities field or field related to writing
Enrollment or completion in a graduate program related to creative writing
Experience writing professionally (copywriter, journalist, technical writer, editor, etc.)
To find out more and apply, please click your preferred language: Afrikaans, Hausa , Igbo, Yoruba, Xhosa.
Prose of the Week
Photo by Archives By Tamil on Unsplash
Grandpa’s Smoke by Demoy Lindo
I still hear his voice. Not in my head, but in my chest. A whisper of smoke trapped in my lung’s left upper lobe, Granpa’s breath laced within it. I soon learned to amplify his voice: feed it more smoke until the heaviest parts fall out as words…
Poetry of the Week
What you carry is not hate.
It is anger
The fire that burns in you is not just yours
It is your mother’s, our mothers’…
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Omé (It is well—Esan, Edo State, Nigeria)
Number 3 ticks my boxes...
I like the fact that there is a magazine for us sensitive folks. I would love to look my instincts in the eye and smile a smile of dominion 😀