This newsletter is published every Wednesday. It now includes a dedicated section for opportunities in technical writing.
1. Brittle Paper’s Free Masterclass in The Basics Fiction Writing
Brittle Paper is an online literary magazine for readers of African Literature. They are currently offering free Masterclasses in the basics of fiction writing led by 5 African authors: Molara Wood, Eghosa Imaseun, Zukiswa Wanner, Ellah Wakatama and Chiemeka Garricks.
Deadline: unstated | Prize: Masterclass
Things to note:
The five classes are: Theme with Molara Wood, Setting with Eghosa Imaseun, Plot with Zukiswa Wanner, Language and Style with Ellen Wakatama, Character Development with Chiemeka Garricks.
To enrol in any class, you have to create a free Brittle Paper account.
You can enrol in multiple classes simultaneously.
To register, click the text of your preferred class.
2. Naija Theatre: Call for Reviews
Naija Theatre was created to give Nigerian stories told on a theatre stage the necessary support. They are calling for reviews of Nigerian Theatre productions.
Deadline: 25th of each month. | Renumeration: N50,000
Steps to submit:
Watch a Nigerian stage play
Write a review about it
In the designated form, kindly share your name, email address and paste your review in the box provided. Once you are done filling, click submit. A black checkmark is proof that your submission was successful.
If your review is selected, you will be contacted for your cash prize and to request images where necessary.
Click here to submit.
3. SpringNG 2024 Writing Fellowship
The SprinNG Writing Fellowship (SWF) is an intensive 6-week online mentorship program for developing Nigerian, Ghanaian, Liberian, and South African writers with great potential and willingness to learn.
Deadline: April 15, 2023. | Prize: Free 6-week writing fellowship.
Things to note:
This fellowship focuses on Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Book Review, Play/Drama, and Blogging. During the 6 weeks, mentees will be in contact with their mentors, sending them their works and getting reviews and commentaries. Mentors and mentees will aim to work on at least 1 piece of writing in their select genre per week.
The SprinNG Creative Writing Fellowship is only open to writers who have not published a book before (eBook/hardcopy).
Applicants must be a Nigerian, Ghanaian, Liberian, or South African citizen, must reside in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, or South Africa, and must be between the ages of 18 to 25.
For more information click here. To register for the Fellowship’s live Q&A session on the 18th of January, click the button below.
4. SpingNG is now accepting submissions for 2024
SpringNg is accepting submissions in all genres from African writers for publication on their platform.
Deadline: March 2024 | Prize: N3500 per accepted piece.
Guidelines.
You may submit up to 2 pieces (of the same or different genres) for this period only.
You may submit Poetry, Fiction (Flash fiction, Short Stories, etc.), or Creative Nonfiction (Essays, Book Reviews, etc.).
Writers have the option of submitting on any theme(s) of their choice.
Work(s) submitted should not have been published elsewhere (on a literary platform, personal blog, or social media page). Please ensure that your work(s) are well-edited and proofread.
Click here to submit.
5. Call for Submissions: Black Feminist Collective
The Black Feminist Collective is an intergenerational group of Black feminists and womanists who stand for Black liberation in its entirety. They are seeking essays, articles, interviews, artworks etc, from Black feminists and womanists, for their Spring 2024 publication.
Deadline: 26th February 2024 | Prize: Professional Consulting and Publication
Notes to guide submission:
Please provide your email address in order for us to work with you to edit your work before it’s published.
If the work you are submitting has been published before, please copy + paste a link to it was originally published, and we’ll cite it.
Describe your submission(s).
If your work contains graphic and explicit content, and please provide a content warning.
Pick at least one of the following sections in which you want your works to be published: Resource lists, Art, Politics, Movements, Culture, Interviews and Conversations, Reflections and Personal Narratives.
All writings must be at least 100 words.
Resource lists must be accompanied by a brief overview.
Both video essays and audio essays must be accompanied by a transcript, or be transcribed before it’s published. If you’re submitting video essays to the submissions form, please only upload the transcript.
Clarify if you want your visual artwork to be published individually, or if you want it to be featured on another person’s works for future publications.
If you want your visual pieces to be published individually, it should be accompanied by a title and a description, or by an optional 100+ word piece.
If the artwork is you’re submitting is a picture of someone else, you must also have their written consent to be photographed and featured in order for it to be published—please confirm this with us!
Upload at least one picture per submission.
Please give credit to the creator(s) of the image you are uploading.
If you’re submitting your writings, and you don’t want to upload an image, you can pick one of your favorite quotes to appear at the top of your published work. View this example.
For more information, click here.
6. 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.
7. The St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition
St. Gallen’s Symposium is an annual platform for proactive ideation and debate, the 2024 symposium will be held in Switzerland. They are inviting young people to become a members of a unique global community and participate in the symposium with us by writing on this years topic question: Striving for more or thriving with less – What pressing scarcity do you see, and how do you suggest to tackle it?
Deadline: 1st February 2024. | Prize: Over $22,000 in cash + full sponsorship to event
Things to note for participation:
Scarcity generally refers to a situation where human needs exceed available resources. This year’s Global Essay Competition invites young leaders worldwide to focus on a specific contemporary or future challenge related to scarcity and propose an innovative way to address it.
Be creative in thinking about proposed solutions: do we need to strive for more and find ways to boost the availability of the resource in question? Or does it focus on ways to thrive with less and thus rethink our needs and demand?
Be free in choosing which scarce resource you focus on: examples include – but are NOT limited to – human labour, capital, natural resources, or intangibles like time, creativity, or care. Be bold and precise in describing a contemporary or future challenge of scarcity and the specific kind of resources you focus on, and offer a concrete and actionable idea of how we should confront it.
8. Iskanchi Book Prize 2024 is open for submissions:
Iskanchi Book Prize aims to recognize exceptional prose and hybrid book manuscripts and offer the winners a chance to be published. This competition is open to both emerging and established African writers living anywhere in the world.
Deadline: 30 January 2024 | Prize: $1500 and book publication
Some things to note:
Submissions should be prose: Fiction and non-fiction manuscripts (novels, novellas, short story collections, essay collections, memoirs, etc.). OR
hybrid: Manuscripts that blend multiple genres or mediums (e.g., poetry and visual art, prose and photography, experimental formats, etc.)
Book submissions should be previously unpublished and between 50,000– 120,000 words.
Simultaneous submissions to other publishers or competitions are allowed, but please notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Subject of submission should be "Iskanchi Book Prize"
Please send all submissions to submissions@iskanchi.com
9. Makena Onjerika’s Kenyan Speculative Fiction Anthology
Kenyan author and winner of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing, Makena Onjerika, is inviting Kenyan writers to submit speculative fiction under the theme Yajayo.
As the name suggests, Yajayo is focused on what is to come, the future. So what is your vision of Kenya's future? The next 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 years, what will they be for Kenyans? The author is particularly interested in futures that are heavily connected to the past and the present. Futures that are singly and peculiarly Kenyan, whether positive or negative. Futures that are not simply replications of stories and imaginations from elsewhere. 15-20 stories will be selected and published in the Anthology by April 30th, 2024.
Deadline: 11:59pm Kenyan Time, 20th January 2024. | Prize: Publication + up to 10,000 KES for each published story.
Submission rules:
Your short story should be 2000-5000 words long (including the title, your name, and contact details). Shorter or longer manuscripts may be accepted but only if they are exceedingly impressive.
Speculative fiction should be interpreted to cover science fiction, fantasy, magical/surreal fiction, folklore and others. Please do not submit work that is not speculative in nature or that does not match the theme.
Strictly format your manuscript as per the Shunn Modern manuscript format and use 12-point font.
Submit your manuscript in Word format. PDFs will not be accepted. Make sure to label your word document as follows: Your name_Yajayo 2024 submission.
Do not use ALL CAPITALS anywhere in your work, even in the title. Use Sentence case for your writing and Capitalize Every Other Word for titles.
Submissions will only be accepted from Kenyan citizens, and you will need to provide proof of citizenship if your work is accepted.
Submit a 50-100 word bio. You will be asked for an author photo if your work is selected for the anthology.
Your story must be recognizably about Kenya and Kenyans.
All entrants must be age 18 years and above as of January 20th 2024.
All submissions must be in English although they may include other languages in them.
All submissions must be written for adults and not for children only
All entries selected for the anthology cannot have been previously published elsewhere. Simultaneous submissions are welcome as long as you notify Onjerika immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere and withdraw it.
Stories selected for the anthology will undergo editing, copywriting, and proof reading as necessary. You will be consulted about all editing work done on your manuscript.
Only submit work that is significantly developed and complete. Early drafts will not be accepted.
Worldwide copyright will remain with the writer. You will only have to provide 12 months exclusive publishing rights for the anthology from the date of publication, after which your story may be reprinted anywhere as long as other publishers always indicate that the story was first published in Yajayo: An Anthology of Kenyan Speculative Fiction (2024). Once the 12 months lapse, Yajayo will hold non-exclusive publishing rights to your story indefinitely. Snippets of stories published in the anthology will be used for promotional purposes online.
Writers whose work appears in the anthology will be expected to take part in publicity activities, including online.
Only submit work that is exclusively your own work. Plagiarism is not acceptable.
10. Oxbelly Writers Retreat in Greece (June 2024)
The Oxbelly Retreat is an annual gathering of international storytellers, dedicated to the exchange of ideas, deepening of craft, and broadening of artistic horizons through intercultural dialogue. The 2024 Oxbelly Retreat includes programs for writers working in film, television, and literature to workshop their writing and to engage in dialogue across mediums. Each program is led by established writers in their respective fields.
Deadline: 19th January 2024 at 11:59pm EET. | Prize: all expense paid retreat
Things to note:
The retreat is divided into the following programs: Screenwriting Program, Episodic Writers Program, Fiction Writers Program.
The retreat will hold from June 22-30, 2024 in Costa Navarino, Messinia, Greece.
To apply please click text of your preferred program above.
Technical Writing
11. EDB is hiring a Technical Documentation Writer
EDB envisions a world where organisations thrive by harnessing the full power of Postgres, the world’s fastest growing and most loved and used open source database. They are looking for a Technical Documentation Writer who possesses a strong understanding of how to make Postgres documentation easy to consume and understand. Ideal candidates will take pride in quality and usability.
Deadline: Unstated | Pay: Above $50,000 per year (Glassdoor) | Location: Remote
Requirements:
Have a Bachelor or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or English or equivalent experience
8+ years of experience with technical writing
Markdown languages (e.g. MDX, RST, etc)
Source code management (e.g. GitHub, Git)
Linux (provisioning, automation, command line)
Image editing tools (ex. GIMP)
Understanding of relational databases
For more information and to apply, please click the button below.
Prose of the Week
Miracle Hunters | Aaliyah Ibrahim
Miracle Hunters are created once every fifty years. So it was to his great surprise when he woke up one morning to find a young Hunter next to him on his patch of grass near the Murtala Square stadium. All he had been left with to figure out the mystery was a disappearing message on the child’s forehead that read, “Hunter 85499’s ward. Train him.”…
Poetry of the Week
My Therapist Kept Smiling At My Tricks | Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto
I visited my therapist and stretched as I could
to familiarize again with my excesses and wounds…
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Tibi biri ebi (Good is in your head—Ijo, Bayelsa State, Nigeria)