Now Open: 9 Opportunities for African Writers
Up to $100,000, Book publication, Magazines, Jobs etc
This newsletter is published every Wednesday.
1. Iko 2024 Women’s Month Writing Contest
Iko is inviting female writers to submit creative non-fiction essays on the theme “Who tells your story?”. “Throughout history up till date, women’s stories have been erased and their voices silenced. Their contributions have been undervalued or ascribed to their male counterparts. Countless decades of such erasure and silencing led us to ask, who tells your story as a woman?”—Iko Africa
Deadline: 18th March 2024. |. Prize: Total of $80 + book gift cards
How to enter:
Publish your essay on ikoafrica.com and use the tag #WM2024
Essays should be 1200 to 2000 Words
The top 10 essays with the highest number of likes will be included in the longlist, from which our editorial team will carefully select the 5 winning essays.
2. Call for Submissions: Globally Rooted Magazine
For their third magazine issue and under the theme: The Beauty of Everyday Things, Globally Rooted Magazine is looking for for photo essays, personal essays, poetry, and profiles/interviews illuminating the beauty of the mundane, and cover the following topics: home, food, tradition, slow living, garden/nature. They want pieces that capture the essence of everyday things and invite readers to rediscover the magic within the ordinary.
Deadline: 26th March 2024, 11:59 EST | Compensation: $40
Guidelines:
Limit for essays and articles is 1500 words. *We do not accept fiction or incomplete works. Pitches are considered on an exceptional basis.
Photo essays must include photo descriptions. Please include a short note in your email about how the photo essay relates to the theme of the issue. If accepted, high resolution photos should be provided at 300 DPI.
Contributors must be 18 years old and above.
Contributors retain full rights to their work. They only accept unpublished work. Works that has been published on personal blogs or websites can be considered on an exceptional basis.
All contributors must include a brief third person biography in the body of your submission email (200 words max)
Submissions must be emailed to editor@globallyrooted.com
Find out more about each topic here.
3. Submit Speculative Fiction to Hearth Stories
Hearth Stories publishes speculative fiction (fantasy & science-fiction in our case) slice-of-life stories with a focus on connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world (we love stories prominently featuring nature, as opposed to tech).
Deadline: 31st March 2024. | Compensation: From $20
Things to note:
They accept works from 1,000 —10,000 words. However, the ideal length may be something in the 1,500-3,500 word range. They do not currently accept poetry, non-fiction, or non-speculative work (there needs to be a fantasy or science fiction element present in the work).
Please include, at a minimum, your e-mail address and the word count on the manuscript
Send the file as: rtf, doc, docx, odt, or md to hearthstories@protonmail.com
The subject will follow this format: “HS Submission: [Story Name] [Word Count]”
The file, formatted as described above, will be attached to the e-mail (we do not accept links to files)
The e-mail body will include, at a minimum, the author's name and a short author bio. The e-mail body will not include a synopsis of the story being submitted.
4. 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.
5. 2024 NLNG Prize for Nigerian Literature
Nigeria LNG Limited is a globally competitive LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria. They organize this prize each year to promote Nigerian literature. The Nigeria Prize for Literature is one of the 10 richest and most prestigious literary prizes in the world.
Deadline: 2nd of April 2024. | Prize: $100,000
How to enter contest:
The competition is open to only Nigerian writers irrespective of their place of residence.
An author will enter only one published work. Unpublished work will not be considered. No book previously submitted for this competition may be re-submitted at a later date, even if major revisions have been made or a new edition published. No book published before 2021 will be accepted.
No member of the Advisory Board, Panel of Judges and members of their families can enter their work(s) for the award in the period in which they are serving and two years thereafter.
No entries will be accepted from staff of Nigeria LNG Limited and their families.
All applicants must submit their entries accompanied by an application form found here.
Completed forms must be printed and submitted along with the entries.
Twelve (12) copies of the entry and an e-copy of each entry, with evidence of a Nigerian passport or National Identity Card), may be submitted either by the author or publisher. Books should be submitted to Nigeria LNG Limited’s External Relations Division, promoters of the prize, by the stipulated deadline.
Entries should be sent to:
The Nigeria Prize for Literature
External Relations Division,
Nigeria ENG Limited Corporate Head Office
NLNG Road, Eastern By-Pass,
Port Harcourt. Rivers State. Nigeria
6. Efiko Magazine: Call for Submissions for First Edition of 2024
EFIKO is an online literary magazine with a focus on Africa as both place and perspective. It is the definitive publication for bookish folks interested in Africa. “We are always seeking poems, short stories, and essays of the highest quality from writers of African origin based anywhere in the world or anyone writing about Africa”—Efiko.
Deadline: unstated. | Compensation: N20,000
Things to note:
Length: poetry – 2 to 5 poems totalling 10 pages; short story and essay – 2,000 to 7,000 words.
Manuscript: typeset in Times New Roman, 12 points, double-spaced, with numbered pages.
Submission method: please email your submission as a Word document attachment to submissions@efikomag.com. Indicate the genre of your submission in the subject line of your email. Save the attached document with your name and the genre of your work. Include a 5-line bio in the body of the email.
Simultaneous submissions: They allow simultaneous submissions but please notify them promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Multiple submissions: submit only one piece per issue.
Response: They aim to respond within 3 months. If you do not get a response after this time, please send an inquiry to editors@efikomag.com.
Revision: They will not allow extensive revision from contributors after work has been accepted.
Reprint: except in special cases, they only accept original, previously unpublished work. They will not accept work that already exists online.
Rights: They ask for first serial rights and for rights to republish in a collection. Rights revert to you after publication. If you reprint your work elsewhere, they ask that you acknowledge them as the first publisher.
7. Accepting Pitches: PopSugar UK
Aaliyah C Harry, Associate Editor of PopSugar UK, is looking to commission pitches which explore culture, identity, lifestyle, and entertainment (if it has a personal hook.)
Deadline: Unstated |. Renumeration: Unstated
To Submit:
Email aaliyah.harry@voxmedia.com
Technical Writing
8. Hiring: Software Business Solutions Consulting (SBSC), Lagos
SBSC consulting firm, working with global clients to uncover opportunities and solve problems. They are experts in the areas of: Application Development, Application Support, Business Strategy, Program & Project Management etc. They are currently seeking a writer to create various types of user documentation, including how-to guides, manuals, references, or instructions.
Deadline: Unstated | Compensation: Unstated | Type: Hybrid
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
Experience in the technology industry
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Ability to understand highly technical information
9. Free: Google Technical Writing Courses
This collection of courses and learning resources by Google aims to improve your technical documentation. Learn how to plan and author technical documents. You can also learn about the role of technical writers at Google.
Deadline: Unstated. | Prize: 4 free courses
Click to enroll:
Technical Writing One: Learn the critical basics of technical writing. Take this course before taking any of the other courses.
Technical Writing Two: Practice four intermediate topics in technical writing.
Tech Writing for Accessibility: Develop skills for making documentation more accessible to all.
Writing Helpful Error Messages: Write clearer, more effective error messages, whether they appear in IDEs, command lines, or GUIs. This course is online only.
Prose of the Week
I Am Not My Illness: Struggling with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome | Gloria Ochai
PCOS is so funny. I mean, you could be in a room filled with women who have it, and they are all experiencing different symptoms. It’s like words and opposites. Woman A hasn’t seen her period in six months, while Woman B has been bleeding all year long. Woman A has Acne, while woman B has hyperpigmentation. Woman A is fat, Woman B is slim. Look, it’s hard to keep up…
Poetry of the Week
Wendo nĩ ihũa (Love is a flower) | Njeri Wangari
The first day
see it hiding its shimmer
like the sun hiding behind the clouds
its laughter peeping behind closed lips
its leaves shielding its beauty…
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Mang naan Sa’a (Well wishes—Doemak, Northern Nigeria)