Paying Gigs for African Writers
Up to $15,000, Digital Publication, Contests, Jobs.
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1. SprinNg Annual Poetry Contest for Nigerians
Sprinng fosters a thriving network that empowers diverse African writers, amplifies their voices, and celebrates their literature. This year’s annual poetry contest is sponsored by Poetry Column NDD.
Deadline: 30th June 2024 |. Prize: Total of N75,000
Instructions:
Only Nigerian writers living in Nigeria are eligible for this contest. Only one submission per person is allowed.
Write a simple poem on any theme of your choice between 8-10 lines.
The line count doesn't include the poem's title.
Put a line space between the title and the poem - if the poem has a title.
The poem may be already published or unpublished.
Do not submit prose-poetry or poems without clear line breaks.
2. Isele Magazine: Call for Submissions on ‘Radical Optimism’
For the next quarterly issue of Isele Magazine, they are seeking submissions that revolve around radical optimism, around hope―hope for a better world, hope for impossible possibilities. They want fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, visual art, and hybrid works that explore this theme.
Deadline: 30th June 2024. | Pay: Unstated
Submission guidelines:
All submissions for the quarterly issue should be submitted to quarterly@iselemagazine.com. The email subject line should read Genre: Lastname (e.g. Poetry: Angelou).
They DO NOT accept multiple submissions. Please submit to one genre only.
For fiction and nonfiction, submit max. 5000 words of prose.
For poetry, submit max. 3 poems in a single document.
For prose (fiction and nonfiction) and poetry, they DO NOT publish previously published works (by this, we mean any piece that has appeared on the web or in print, including your personal blog). However, they will consider a translated version of the work if the original language wasn’t in English.
They accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify them as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere so that they can withdraw it from consideration.
Isele Magazine requests the first serial rights of your published piece. However, all rights will revert to you after publication. If your work is republished elsewhere, please indicate that it previously appeared in Isele Magazine.
3. Drue Heinz Literature Prize
The University of Pittsburgh Press announces the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for a collection of short fiction. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract.
Deadline: 30th June 2024 |. Prize: $15,000
Things to note:
The award is open to writers who have published a novel or a book-length collection of fiction with a reputable book publisher, or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in magazines or journals of national distribution. Digital-only publication and self-publication do not count toward this requirement.
The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States.
Translations are not eligible if the translation was not done by the author.
Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of short stories; two or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Novellas are only accepted as part of a larger collection.
Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 pages. Prior publication of your manuscript as a whole in any format (including electronic) makes it ineligible.
Stories or novellas previously published in magazines or journals or in book form as part of an anthology are eligible.
Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript.
They accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify them as soon as your work is accepted elsewhere so that they can withdraw it from consideration.
4. Akewi Magazine: Call for Editors and Readers
Akéwì Magazine is an online platform dedicated to celebrating the vibrant literary and artistic expressions of Africa and people of colour. They are seeking volunteer editors and readers to join their masthead.
Deadline: 30th June 2024 |. Compensation: unstated
Open roles:
Managing editor
Non-fiction editor
Fiction editor
Poetry reader
Social media manager
Reviews Editor
To apply, click here.
5. The Wanjobi Prize for African Poetry
Poetic Africa is inviting submissions for the maiden edition of The Wanjobi Prize which honours the remarkable contributions of Benny Wanjobi to African poetry.
Deadline: 30th June 2024 | Prize: Total of $150
Guidelines:
Please use the title of your entry as the file name and do not write your name either as the file name or in the file.
Files should either be in PDF or Word format.
Entry should not exceed 30 lines.
6. SansPress is Accepting Short Story Submissions
They are reading short story submissions for their new collection: The Garden! They are looking for stories of any genre that respond to their title and/or cover art (below). “The Garden is an anthology for stories that engage with the living world in all its glory and messiness. From blossom to decay, stories can interpret the premise in any way; be as metaphorical or literal as you wish – just don't be afraid to get a little dirt under your fingernails."
Deadline: 30th June 2024. | Pay: €175
Guidelines:
Submissions have to be your own original work, in English, previously unpublished.
One story per writer, up to 5000 words (no minimum word count).
Make sure your name and personal information are not on the story file (only in the form!)
Stories must be typed in readable font and size, with the title as file name (ie. ShortStoryTitle.docx)
Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please inform us as soon as possible if you are selected elsewhere!
Submissions made with the use of AI will be disqualified.
To submit, fill the form at the bottom of this page.
7. Call For Submissions: The Futurities Issue
Mizna is a SWANA-run (South West Asia and North Africa) and -focused literary journal, and the work you submit should speak to our audience and mission. They are seeking fiction, nonfiction and poetry with indulgences in escapism, uncritical technocapitalist sci-fi, utopian projects collaborating with empire, or the over-intellectualization of liberatory struggles, and academic writing or term papers (your work can be complex and theoretical, but it should be clear and legible to a nonacademic audience).
Deadline: 30th June 2024 |. Pay: Unstated
Guidelines:
Please include a short cover letter (200 words or less) as the first page of your submission, with a brief overview of the work you are submitting and why you are submitting to Mizna. Include a note disclosing any simultaneously submitted works.
Include a brief (50 words or less) author bio.
Include contact information: email, phone number, and mailing address.
Poets should list the poems they are submitting. Poetry submissions should be limited to four poems of any length. Verses exceeding our page width will be treated with a run-over indent.
Prose submissions should include a brief, 1–2 sentence overview of the submission (e.g., a synopsis if it is a story or narrative essay, or an overview of the argument for more expository essays). Keep in mind that we are a literary magazine. Max word count is 5000 words.
Add a maximum of one sentence for any additional information you would like the editorial team to know about the work.
Please submit as .doc or .docx files. Submitting pdfs is allowable only for pieces with complex layouts. We do not accept other file formats (e.g., .pages).
To read the editor’s prompts, click here.
8. Submit to Black Shuck Books’ Next Anthology
They are seeking non-fiction pieces between 2000 – 4000 words on films which encompass the beautiful, often foolish, art of being lost. The editor wants passion pieces about the movies you either love or love to hate. The lost-in-the-wilderness / survival horror genre is a gloriously oversaturated market which both plays to our basic fears and our willingness to indulge them. There’s Nothing Out There (Anthology title) seeks to celebrate this.
Think: The Blair Witch Project; The Ritual; The Descent; Wolf Creek; Wrong Turn; Backcountry; Meek’s Cutoff; Dark Mountain; Preservation; Cold Ground.
Deadline: 1st August 2024. | Compensation: Unstated pay + royalties
To submit:
Submissions should be sent as an attachment (Word format) with a covering email to editortheresnothingoutthere@gmail.com
9. Call for Submissions: Planet Black Joy
Planet Black Joy is an anthology of speculative fiction that’s being published through Rosarium Publishing in Fall 2025. They are looking to showcase stories of Black joy in the fantastical and the mundane in the present, past, and the future. They’d like a variety of Black joy from catharsis to irreverence to clawing resilience out of the darkness.
Deadline: 1st Jan 2025. | Pay: up to $640 per piece
Things to note:
This call is open to women and non-binary folk of Black, African, or Afro-descendent heritage.
They’d prefer original submissions in English, but we are open to translations and reprints.
Please email your submissions as an attachment to planetblackjoy@rosariumpublishing.com.
Prose of the Week
Trombrero | Adeyalo Kolawole
“Father, we’ll be back soon.”
We ran as far as our tiny legs could carry us because we didn’t want to wait for Papa’s response lest he ask us not to go anywhere. We could hear him calling out to us, but we didn’t stop…
Poetry of the Week
Drowning | Inimfon Inyang-Kpanantia
Inshallah,
I’ll find you where the
sun chases the tail of night-
ever bound to that cycle of infinity
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Guul ayaan kuu rajaynayaa! (I wish you success—Somali, Somalia)