Call For Submissions | 2018 Writivism Short Story Prize

Entries are welcomed from Short writers in Africa for the 2018 Writivism Short Story Prize. It is worthy of note that Witivism has been promoting African Literature since 2012.

Consequently, the Writivism Short Story Prize is an annual award for emerging African writers administered by the Center for African Cultural Excellence (CACE) and, as of 2018, sponsored by The Story Club, Malawi. Now in its sixth year, the prize has supported literary careers for hundreds of emerging African writers.

Submission Guidelines:

1.         Entrants must be unpublished writers, resident in an African country. One is deemed published if they have a book of their own. Any questions of eligibility shall be resolved by the CACE administration and their decision is final.

2.          All entries must be in English or French, and 2,500 – 3,500 words long. Entries should be attached in Microsoft Word or Rich Text formats, with the title of the story as the file name. The first page of the story should include the name of the story and the number of words. The entry must be typed in Times New Roman 12 point font and 1.5 line spacing. No mention should be made on the identity of the writer in the entry.

3.         All entrants undertake that their stories are original and authentic. Entries will be checked automatically for plagiarism using electronic software. Entries found to be plagiarized will be disqualified without notification to the writer.

4.         Only one entry per writer may be submitted for the Writivism Short Story Prize. The story must be original and previously unpublished in any form including on the writer’s personal blog.

5.         Entrants agree as a condition of entry that CACE may publicize the fact that a story has been entered, longlisted or shortlisted for the Prize. The shortlisted writers and winners of the competition will be expected to participate in readings, The Writivism Festival and events at selected schools.

6.         Worldwide copyright of each story remains with the writer. CACE will have the unrestricted right to publish and translate the short-listed stories in an anthology and elsewhere. The writer shall not publish the shortlisted story elsewhere, until ten years from the first date of the original publication by CACE.

7.        Shortlisted writers will edit their stories with a commissioned editor prior to publication in the annual anthology. Failure to cooperate with the editorial team will lead to exclusion of the story from the anthology.

8.         Shortlisted writers may be invited to attend the annual Writivism Festival in Kampala, Uganda, in August 2018 and will each be awarded $100 (USD) cash. The winner of the prize will be awarded $500 (USD) cash and may be considered for a one-month writing residency at a university in an African country.

9.          The winner will be required to produce a complete first draft of a publishable fiction manuscript before the residency. The winner, on taking up the residency commits to publishing the manuscript edited through the residency, under the Writivism Series with a CACE partner publisher.

How to Make Submissions

Entries must be submitted online, by emailing them to info@writivism.com as attachments (not in the body email), clearly labelled in the subject: 2018 Writivism Short Story Prize Submission. The writer must include in the body of the email, other information about him/her i.e country of residence, age, legal name and pen name (where applicable) and telephone contact.

Deadline for Entry Submission

The deadline for receiving entries is March 31, 2018, at midnight GMT. Each entry shall be acknowledged independently by email. Acknowledgement mail shall be sent after the deadline.