Deadline: 31 January 2019
Applications are open for Caine Prize for African Writing that is a literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English.
The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally. The focus on the short story reflects the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition.
Benefits
- Winning and short-listed authors will be invited to participate in writers’ workshops in Africa, London and elsewhere as resources permit.
- There is a cash prize of £10,000 for the winning author and a travel award for each of the short-listed candidates (up to five in all).
- The shortlisted candidates will also receive a Prize of £500. The winner is also invited to go to three literature festivals in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.
Eligibility Criteria
- Unpublished work is not eligible for the Caine Prize.
- Submissions should be made by publishers only.
- Only fictional work is eligible.
- Only one story per author will be considered in any one year.
- Submissions should specify which African country the author comes from and the word count.
- They require 6 copies of the work in its originally published version.
- If the work is published in a book or journal, they would like to receive at least one copy of the book / journal and five photocopies; but particularly where several stories are submitted from one anthology they would like if possible to receive six copies of the book / journal itself.
- If the work is published online, they would like to receive six photocopies.
- Indicative length is between 3000 and 10,000 words and only short stories are eligible.
How to Apply
- There is no application form. To apply please send six original published copies of the work for consideration to the Caine Prize office including a letter from the publisher.
- If the work is published in a book or journal, they would like to receive at least one copy of the book / journal and five photocopies; but particularly where several stories are submitted from one anthology they would like if possible to receive six copies of the book / journal itself.
- If published in a magazine or journal they will accept one original copy plus five photocopies, but would prefer six original copies.
- If the work is published online, they would like to receive six printed copies.
Eligible Countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Cote d’Ivorie, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
For more information, please visit Caine Prize for African Writing.