Africa

Sterile Sky, E.E. Sule (Nigeria)

Pearson Education

E. E. SULE is the pen-name of Dr. Sule E. Egya who is an associate professor in Department of English, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria. Besides published academic work and essays, Dr.Egya is the author of the short story collections Impotent Heavens and Dream and Shame, and the poetry volumes Naked Sun, Knifing Tongues and What the Sea Told Me. His poems, short stories, and critical work have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies and literary magazines. Sterile Sky is his first novel.

“This is great news for me! I’m bursting with excitement! I consider it a milestone in my career as a writer – that moment you think you have got a needed impetus, in fact a revelation, to perform better, to aim higher. I also feel confident that Sterile Sky is a worthy work; it has begun its own journey in life. I sincerely thank everyone involved in making it what it is.”

As the gifted young Murtala comes of age in Kano, violent riots and his family’s own woes threaten to erase all he holds dear. Stalked by monsters real and imagined, desperate to preserve a sense of self and the future, Murtala hunts for answers in the wreckage of the city – and gives us a unique insight into modern life in northern Nigeria.

Asia

Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera (Sri Lanka)

Perera-Hussein Publishing House

NAYOMI MUNAWEERA is a Sri Lankan-American author and artist. Having migrated to Nigeria when she was very young and later to America, she continued visiting Sri Lanka regularly, witnessing the devastation wrought upon her country of birth by civil war. These experiences led her to write her first novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, which was published by the Perera Hussein Publishing House in late 2012. The novel was an instant commercial success, and received critical acclaim by being long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012. Nayomi who is an alumni of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation and the Intersection for the Arts Interdisciplinary Writer’s Workshop, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

“I am absolutely delighted. When I was writing my novel I didn’t know if I’d ever even find a publisher for it. Indeed the entire process of writing and publishing it took a decade. The idea that the book would one day find itself in this esteemed company was beyond what I allowed myself to dream of. I am also incredibly grateful for the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka, a small place, but one with many stories to share with the world.”

Island of a Thousand Mirrors follows the fate of two families, one Tamil, one Sinhala as they straddle opposite sides of the long and brutal Sri Lankan civil war. Narrated by the eldest daughter of each family, the story explores how each woman negotiates war, migration, love, exile, and belonging. At its root, it’s a story of a fragmented nation struggling to find its way to a new beginning.

Canada and Europe

The Death of Bees, Lisa O’Donnell (United Kingdom)

William Heinemann

LISA O’DONNELL won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for her screenplay The Wedding Gift. Recently she took a break from screenwriting when she moved to LA with her two children. Her debut novel, The Death of Bees was published in 2012.

“I’m so proud to be one of the regional winners of the Commonwealth Book Prize and amidst such incredible talent. I feel truly honored.”

Two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.

Marnie and her little sister Nelly are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren’t telling. While life in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst housing estate isn’t grand, they do have each other. Besides, it’s only one year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both.

As the new year comes and goes, Lennie, the old man next door, realizes that his young neighbours are alone and need his help. Or does he need theirs? But he’s not the only one who suspects something isn’t right. Soon, the sisters’ friends, their other neighbours, the authorities, and even Gene’s nosy drug dealer begin to ask questions. As one lie leads to another, dark secrets about the girls’ family surface, creating complications that threaten to tear them apart.

Caribbean

Disposable People, Ezekel Alan (Jamaica)

EZEKEL ALAN was born and raised in rural Jamaica and spent his formative years under the Socialist regime of the 1970s. He currently lives with his wife and kids in an architecturally noteworthy house in Asia, has a good, reliable dog and a satisfyingly abundant supply of sweet, juicy mangoes. Inspired by true events, Disposable People is Ezekel’s debut novel. He is currently working on his second.

“When I started writing Disposable People the story came out with such violence that I thought of it as therapy and catharsis rather than art. I knew from the outset that the novel was unorthodox; because of this, and the fact that it was self-published, I worried about whether it would be accepted by a mainstream audience. I am so encouraged by this recognition.”

Ten year old Kenneth Lovelace often went to bed without dinner. Instead of feeling hunger, however, what he mostly felt was fear and shame, knowing that his family’s poverty was the reason he had no food. Kenneth also recalls his bitterness whenever his parents locked him out of their tiny, one-room house to act on their ‘urge’. This was in the 1970s, when Jamaica’s socialist regime was dragging the country into bankruptcy, and when an Old Timer had told him that he was cursed since birth. Beginning with his earliest memories, “Disposable People” traces the life of Kenneth Lovelace, now a consultant living in the USA. After a string of failed marriages, bad relationships and other misfortunes, Kenneth looks back at his life in his old, hateful village with hopes of finding the roots of his latest tragedy. What comes out is a story of mischief and adventures, sex, prejudice, evil spirits, adversities and, progressively, violence.

Pacific

The Last Thread, Michael Sala (Australia)

Affirm Press

MICHAEL SALA is an Australian writer and teacher. His short fiction has been published in various anthologies, including The Best Australian Stories three times. In 2007, he was shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel Literary Award. The Last Thread, published by Affirm Press in 2012, is his first novel.

“I’ve always felt that the best writing crosses international boundaries, and that has always been my ambition with my own writing. To be acknowledged so early in my career is just incredibly exciting. With such diversity and talent on the shortlist, I feel honoured and humbled to be selected as a regional winner.  I can’t thank the Commonwealth Book Prize enough for this wonderful opportunity to get my work out into the wider world.”

The Last Thread is Michael Sala’s fascinating life in fiction. From his early years in the Netherlands to growing up in Australia during the 1980s, Michael recalls the secret surrounding his estranged Greek father and how scandalous events from the past fractured his family. This is a moving chronicle of a boy’s turbulent relationship with his bullying stepfather, aloof older brother and adored mother, whose cheerful apathy has devastating consequences. As his life unfolds, Michael – now a father – must decide if he can free himself from the dark pull of the past.

Reminiscent of the great autobiographical novels of JM Coetzee and Michael Ondaatje, The Last Thread is a beautifully crafted work from an exceptional new writer.

Commonwealth Writers has partnered with Granta magazine to give regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to be published by Granta online during the week commencing 27 May.

John Freeman, Editor of Granta said: “The Commonwealth Short Story Prize searches across a vast territory with relentless curiosity to select the brightest new talent from each region, and this year is stronger than ever. With voices that arrest, affirm, disturb and illuminate, this new crop of writers turn our expectations for what a story can do, and of where they are calling from, inside out. This partnership is an example of what the magazine can be at best – a beacon for those writers we didn’t know we were missing out on – and we salute Commonwealth Writers in their continuing good work.”

Africa

THE NEW CUSTOMERS,  Julian Jackson  (South Africa)

In a South Africa still riven by apartheid, a chance encounter in a small town bar ensues when an English speaking urban visitor finds himself in the midst of a scene of racial aggression between an Afrikaans farmer and local men. 

Raised in England, Germany and South Africa, Julian studied literature, philosophy and law at the universities of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), Humboldt (Berlin) and Cambridge before becoming a lawyer. In 2003, he returned to South Africa where he founded a legal practice to facilitate investment into sub-Saharan Africa. He travels regularly in Africa for work and pleasure. Julian has written in magazines and journals on travel, politics and philosophy. Apart from writing and his legal work, his interests include jurisprudence, in particular the relationship between individual autonomy, freedom and legal rules. He lives in Johannesburg with his wife and two young sons.

“I am excited and encouraged by the recognition the judges have given to my story, it is emboldening. But there is also a challenge that comes with the encouragement: I must do it justice and use it well, that means giving room to my writing.  Above all, I am thankful to the organisers and the judges for offering Commonwealth writers this wonderful platform.” 

Asia

THE SARONG-MAN IN THE OLD HOUSE, AND AN INCUBUS FOR A RAINY NIGHT,  Michael Mendis  (Sri Lanka)

The old house is empty but for Wijey and an assortment of souvenirs of an endless life hiding in shodowy places. A storm after a long spell of dryness stirs the smell-memory of rain-on-dust: taking him back to a forgotten night of innocence.

Michael Mendis is an unpublished writer currently studying law at the University of Colombo. Born in 1990, and educated at a Catholic boys’ school in Colombo, Michael is the fourth in a family of five children. He likes dogs, debating, and night-time Colombo. More of his unpublished writing can be found at oilmanstreet.wordpress.com.

“Although writing, for me, is inherently a personal exercise, involving a distillation of private thoughts and private confusions, this Prize implies that the end product resonates with the world outside. Validation is important; it reaffirms the possibility of my having a voice, and adds to the chorus of Asian voices that profess our continent’s vibrant diversity. I am profoundly thankful to the Commonwealth Foundation and the judges for their continuing work in giving young, growing writers such as myself, a time and a place to come out of ourselves.”

Canada and Europe

WE WALKED ON WATER,  Eliza Robertson  (Canada)

After the death of his twin sister during the Ironman competition in British Columbia, the boy decides to compete again.

Eliza Robertson was born in Vancouver, Canada and grew up on Vancouver Island. She studied creative writing and political science at the University of Victoria, then pursued her MA in Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where she received the Man Booker Scholarship and the Curtis Brown Prize for best writer. In Canada, she has won three national fiction contests and has been twice longlisted for the Journey Prize. Most recently, she was a finalist for the 2013 CBC Short Story Prize. She lives in Victoria where she is completing her first novel and story collection.

“I have to admit— I laughed when I saw Canada and Europe listed as one “region.” And when I saw the others on the shortlist, I felt incredibly daunted. To be the regional winner feels nothing short of miraculous. I am so thrilled and grateful to be included on a list of such diverse talent, with writers from all over the world.”

Caribbean

THE WHALE HOUSE,  Sharon Millar  (Trinidad & Tobago)

As a woman recovers from a miscarriage, it resurrects an old conflict and a long kept secret. Bush medicine, teenage sexuality, and difficult moral choices culminate in this uniquely Trinidadian story – one of marriage and the secrets we keep from the ones closest to us.

Sharon Millar is a Trinidadian writer who lives in Port of Spain with her husband and daughter. She is particularly driven by the landscape of her homeland and her work touches on issues that affect her as a Trinidadian citizen and as a woman. The worlds of her stories are occupied by protagonists who struggle with moral issues, crime, illness, loyalty, betrayal, and all the other messy things that make up a life. Writing from a Caribbean island right here and right now allows her to illuminate complications that lie beneath the surface of a young state trying to move forward as a cohesive society. She is conscious of pushing past the Caribbean stereotypes of exoticism and tries to create characters that are universal in their desires and conflicts.

“Writing is such an intensely solitary and private practice. It’s difficult to explain to people what you do and how you do it. Winning a regional leg of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is thrilling (really thrilling!). It’s a powerful experience to realise  that your work can go out into the world ahead of you and hold its own.”

Pacific

THINGS WITH FACES,  Zoe Meager  (New Zealand)

Intangible keepsakes– sounds, images, feelings – piece together the memory of a childhood. From a wild landscape, a creature comes forth to live with people, while in return a father is swallowed whole, disappearing past the edges of the known world. As a family lives its life, each learns what it is to seek comfort and to love fiercely, and that those are instincts of not only humans, but other animals too.

Zoë Meager grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, and completed an undergraduate degree in anthropology and gender studies at the University of Otago, before going on to complete a Masters in Sociology from the University of Auckland. She worked variously as a public servant, research assistant, and English language teacher before returning to the University of Auckland and graduating with a Masters in Creative Writing in 2012. Her writing centres around themes of freedom, ownership, and gender, and applies pressure to the border between reality and irreality. Her stories often play up the artifice of fictional worlds, and explore liminal emotions and states, especially the human-animal conundrum. Her work appears in Penduline, The Island Review, and Hue and Cry (forthcoming).

“I’m so lucky to be included in the shortlist for such a well-respected competition, and it’s incredibly fortifying to win the Pacific regional prize. It’s a thrill to think that Things With Faces is contributing to this unique collection of imaginative works from all around the world.”

The Award will be given annually to three English-language literary works for Young Adults by Caribbean authors. A First Prize of $10,000 CAD, a Second Prize of $7,000 CAD and a Third Prize of $5,000 CAD will be awarded to the winning authors. Publishers of winning titles will be awarded a guaranteed purchase of up to 3,000 copies, ensuring the books will get into the hands of young people in schools, libraries and community organisations across the Caribbean.

About

Part of a unique global literary award and readership initiative aiming to provide youth everywhere with access to books they will want to read, the Award was established by CODE — a Canadian charitable organisation that has been supporting literacy and learning for over 50 years — in collaboration with William (Bill) Burt and the Literary Prizes Foundation and in partnership with the NGC Bocas Lit Fest. The Award will be accepting submissions from publishers from May 13 until August 23, 2013.

“In the Caribbean, as in many other places around the world, the call for quality, locally-authored reading materials for young people is constantly growing. Supporting the development of books that reflect the lives of readers, providing opportunities for emerging writers to develop and showcase their talents, and stimulating the growth of the regional publishing sector is crucial,” said CODE Executive Director Scott Walter. “And that’s exactly what this Award aims to do — it helps address these issues by celebrating the literary achievements of Caribbean authors and improving young readers’ access to books that are engaging and meaningful to them.”

For this new initiative, CODE will build on the success it has achieved in implementing the Burt Award in four African countries, as well as its long established partnerships in the Caribbean.

“Oftentimes, the only books Caribbean youth have access to are the textbooks they use in school. But textbooks don’t encourage them to develop a love of reading,” said William (Bill) Burt, who was instrumental in its founding and financially supports the Award. “I hope that the high-quality books that will emerge from these annual awards will make young people love to read, build their language skills and, eventually, help them to make a lasting difference in their communities.”

Since its inception in 2008, the Burt Award for African Literature has resulted in the publication of nearly 150,000 copies of 24 titles for young adults in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. The inaugural Call for Manuscripts for the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature was launched in September 2012 in Canada, and the first winners will be announced in the fall of 2013.

The winners of the Inaugural Burt Award for Caribbean Literature will be announced at the 2014 NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

Submissions

The Call for Submissions opens on May 13, 2013. Manuscripts and books published between 1 August 2011 and 22 August 2013 and written by Caribbean authors must be received from publishers by 23 August 2013. The winner will be announced at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2014.

For further Information on the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature, contact Catherine Belshaw, Literary Awards Officer, at 613-232-3569 ext. 233 or CBelshaw@codecan.org.

Entry forms will be available on May 13 here.

The inaugural CALAG meeting was convened by the NGC BOCAS Lit Fest in April 2012 with support from the Commonwealth Foundation and the British Council and has continued with support from all three partners.

In addition to developing the new website, over the last year CALAG has also secured a pledge for an imprint to publish new Caribbean writing by UK publisher Peepal Tree Press and American publisher Akashic Books, facilitated representation at Havana, Kingston and London Book Festivals and arranged practical publishing master-classes held in Jamaica by UK publishers of Caribbean fiction.

The new website offers practical advice, industry updates and reports from regional Book Fairs and events from across the Americas.

Find out more at  www.cariblit.org 

Website Launch Event

On Saturday 27 April a new website to serve the Caribbean publishing industry was launched at the NGC BOCAS Lit Fest in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The unity is submarine”

A year after the inaugural Caribbean Literature Action Group meeting, the CaribLit initiative is launched to the public with a conversation on the challenges and opportunities facing contemporary Caribbean writers. 

3–4 pm • Old Fire Station

The event was chaired by CALAG Coordinator Kellie Magnus, and the panel included:

Nicholas Laughlin

Courttia Newland

Diana McCaulay

Kendel Hippolyte

Please go to your country’s page and leave a short post about your experience or observations of the publishing and literary worlds in your region:

 Twitter

@CaribLit       #CaribLit

Facebook

/Carib-Lit

Click on the titles to read their stories.

Emma Martin – New Zealand

Regional Winner 2012, Pacific
Two Girls in a Boat

Being selected encouraged me to take myself seriously as a writer. Having my story edited was a bit like going for a hair cut at a slightly flash salon: there’s a self-consciousness, a sense of being exposed, sitting there with wet hair while someone evaluates your split ends – but also a kind of narcissistic pleasure. I was lucky enough to travel to the Hay Festival in the UK to receive the overall prize. It was all quite surreal. I felt incredibly grateful, but also a bit undeserving. All I’d actually proven was that I was capable of writing one good story. But I felt hugely motivated – almost obligated – to go home and put in the hard work and finish an actual book. My collection of short stories will be published in May. If I hadn’t won the prize I might have got there eventually, but I don’t think I’d have found a publisher so readily. It accelerated the whole process. Like so many people I had been squeezing writing into smallish gaps between work and family commitments. The prize money meant I could take some time off work and focus intensively on the book. It feels fantastic to have finished it. Now I’m having a break from writing for a couple of months. My next project is going to be a novel so I’m mainly just reading novels and trying to figure out what makes them tick.

Anushka Jasraj – India

Regional Winner 2012, Asia
Radio Story

There’s this idea that the stories we read affect our way of noticing the world, but I’d never realized how much a story can change its writer before being selected. So much has changed over the past year. I wasn’t even comfortable calling myself a writer before being selected by Commonwealth Writers and having my story published by Granta – I know that sounds silly, but it was probably the biggest change for me. I don’t think I’ll have a fully developed perspective of myself as a writer until I’ve written a book. My piece ‘Radio Story’ was translated into Italian for a special Indian fiction edition ofInternazionale – that was really exciting. Hearing from people who read the story was also very heartening. Now I’m currently in the new MFA program at the University of Texas-Austin’s English department, so I’m working on a couple of short stories and my master’s thesis – which I won’t talk about yet because it’s still in the infant stage!

Jekwu Anyaegbuna – Nigeria

Regional Winner 2012, Africa
Morrison Okoli (1955-2010)

Being selected has gathered stones and stars, and heaped them around my mind, to let me discover that one literary success is enough to compensate for hundreds of literary obstacles. I’ve got to know that rejection is the inevitable price to pay for the happiness of acceptance. Being edited byGranta also made me realise that the comma is the sexiest and most dangerous punctuation necklace that sentences could wear, so one should be very careful with its deployment. Winning means validation, that someone else appreciates your craft. It has brought some attention to my writing. TheGuardian, as part its fiction project this year, recently commissioned and published my new story “The Swimming Pool.” Writers, by default, are always working on something: at the moment, I am plucking unwanted feathers out of my first novel – which I completed recently – praying and hoping that a literary agent will scoop it and build an everlasting home for it. And I am also peeping under the miniskirts of my new short stories, straightening them out to make them more fashionable. O dikwa egwu!

Andrea Mullaney – UK

Regional Winner 2012, Canada and Europe
The Ghost Marriage

Coming from a journalism background I’m used to being edited, but there you don’t tend to get much of a say about it. Fiction is almost a collaboration, and allows for so much more nuance and multiplicity of meanings. I really believed in ‘The Ghost Marriage’, but it’s a bit of a strange story, so it was amazing to have the Commonwealth judges say that they got it and they enjoyed it. It really gave me the confidence that I was on the right track. And the prize money came in handy too. The only downside was having to provide a photo for the publicity. Having my work edited was great too. An outside perspective helps make sure that everything’s coming across clearly but that the story still has space for ambiguity and imagination.

Since then, I’ve been developing the story into a novel. It’s a long process, but I’m making good progress, so I hope to finish by the end of this year and to then try and get it published. But I also take breaks to write short stories, on all kinds of subjects – from working in a call centre to a WWI war crimes trial to a zombie rock star. I’ve also been approached through my blog by a couple of agents and translators wanting to discuss my work, and have even heard from a cousin abroad who I haven’t seen in twenty years!

Diana McCauley – Jamaica

Regional Winner 2012, Caribbean
The Dolphin Catcher

You know how it is: you write stuff, you send it out, it gets rejected; or you send it to a competition, it doesn’t get longlisted or shortlisted or an honourable mentioned or anything – you wonder if they even received it, and then you start telling yourself you’re talentless and should stick to writing grant proposals. So to win a well respected prize is to vanquish those thoughts, at least for awhile. And I dreamed of winning a Commonwealth Writers prize long before I had written anything worthy of submission. The publication by Granta was also great and meant that the story has a longer life – it’s still alive and thriving a year later. I was asked by Fleeting Magazineto submit a new story and I sent one that had been turned down quite a few times and Fleeting liked it, gave it a rocking new title, and now it too lives online. My Commonwealth winning story ‘The Dolphin Catcher’ was also translated into Japanese for a project called Birds Singing in New Englishes – they approached me after reading it on Granta. Now I’m turning it into a novel – I’m about halfway through, flailing around in that horrible middle bit, where you think every word you’ve written is worthless.

You can read more about those authors shortlisted for the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize here.

There will be a total of 10 finalists. The overall winner gets USD $ 250.00 and their story, along with the 9 other winning stories, will be published as a short story collection in 2013.

Guidelines

• Entrants must be citizens of the Caribbean.
• Entrants must be greater than or equal to 13 years of age.
• A maximum of 2 entries per entrant.
• Finalists from the last competition set the bar high. Great, logical plots, clean, careful work, a variety of appropriately-used literary techniques. Do the same. You’re competing at a high level and want to stand out.
• Stories must be a minimum of 2,500 words but no greater than 3,000 words. Other entries will not be considered.
• Stories must be original works, having never been featured in any other publication, newspaper, magazine or otherwise.
• Submissions must be in MS WORD or PDF format and must include the word count, author’s name and contact information
• Entries submitted after Saturday, 31st August 2013, will not be considered.
• Entries can be sent via hard or soft copy.

Email: submissions@potbake.com. Subject line must be: “CSSC.2011/2012″.

Hard copy submissions must be made to 3rd Street West, Beaulieu Avenue, Trincity, Trinidad, West Indies.

Prizes

• The overall winner will receive a cash prize of USD $ 250.00.
• The top 10 stories will be compiled in a book and each winner will receive a free copy.
• An about the author page will be included in the publication for each of the 10 winners.
• The authors will retain the copyright for their stories.
• Potbake Productions will retain distribution rights for the top 10 stories.
• There is no other monetary gain for the winning authors. There are no royalties to collect on sales.
• However, winners can buy an unlimited copies of the book in which their story appears for cost price. This way, every individual can sell copies and make a profit.

Closing date: Sat 31 Aug 2013

For more information, click here.

One of the richest writing competitions in the UK with a prize pool of £15,000, the Bridport Prize is open to all nationalities aged 16 years and over.

The poem and short story categories each have a first prize of £5,000, second prize £1,000 and third prize £500. An additional 10 supplementary prizes (for each category) of £50 each are awarded.

A new category for flash fiction with a prize of £1,000 was launched in 2010. There is a second prize of £500, 3rd prize of £250 and 3 supplementary prizes of £25.

The Dorset Award is a prize specifically for Dorset writers. Thanks to the sponsorship of The Book Shop of Bridport, £100 is awarded to the highest placed Dorset writer in the Bridport Prize each year.

Competition Categories

All entries submitted can be on any subject, and written in any style or form.  However, they do not recommend poems or stories written for children.

Flash Fiction

Judge: David Swann

Word limit: 250 words (no minimum). Title not included.

Entry fee:  £6 for each flash fiction submitted.

Prizes: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250 + Highly Commended 3 x £25

What is flash fiction?

Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some are as low as 250 words (such as ours), while others consider stories as long as a thousand words to be flash fiction.

Other names for flash fiction include sudden fiction, micro fiction, micro-story, short short, postcard fiction and short short story, though distinctions are sometimes drawn between some of these terms; for example, sometimes one-thousand words is considered the cut-off between “flash fiction” and the slightly longer short story “sudden fiction”. The terms “micro fiction” and “micro narrative” are sometimes defined as below 300 words.

Flash-fiction often contains the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution. However, unlike a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten – that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline.

Short Stories

Judge: Michèle Roberts

Word limit: 5,000 words (no minimum). Title not included.

Entry fee:  £8 for each short story submitted.

Prizes: 1st £5,000, 2nd £1,000, 3rd £500 + Highly Commended 10 x £50

Poems

Judge: Wendy Cope

Line limit: 42 lines (no minimum). Title not included.

Entry fee:  £7 for each poem submitted.

Prizes: 1st £5,000, 2nd £1,000, 3rd £500 + Highly Commended 10 x £50

Closing date 31st May 2013

For more information, and how to submit, click here.

The inaugural festival ran from Sunday 24th – Saturday 30th June 2012 and showcased short and feature films of both local, national and international origin.

Submissions

To submit your film you can post it with a cheque or pay via Paypal on the submissions page.

Do not submit your film until you have read the submission rules here.

All submissions must come with a completed submissions form, found here.

Established in 2008, the Golden Baobab Prize for Children’s Literature is a prestigious annual pan-African award for excellence in African children’s writing. Golden Baobab awards three prizes annually to eligible African writers: the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Book, the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Book, and the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers. Submissions go through a thorough evaluation process and the final selection of winners is made by a prestigious panel of judges. Prize submissions must be unpublished stories. Winning stories are published through Golden Baobab’s top tier publishing partners throughout the African continent. Shortlisted and outstanding non-winning stories may have the opportunity to publish through these partnerships as well.

Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books

This prize is awarded annually to the most captivating unpublished African manuscript for a picture book targeting readers aged 6-8 years old. Submissions should be between 700 and 2,000 words in length. The Golden Baobab Prize package includes an award of $1,000 (USD), the opportunity to publish with and receive royalties from Golden Baobab top tier African and international publishing partners, the benefit of increased publicity that comes with being named a Golden Baobab winner, and opportunities to attend exclusive Golden Baobab workshops to learn and grow as a children’s book writer.

Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books

This prize is awarded annually to the most captivating unpublished African manuscript for an early chapter book targeting readers aged 9-11 years old. Submissions should be between 5,000 and 10,000 words. The Golden Baobab Prize package includes an award of $1,000 (USD), the opportunity to publish with and receive royalties from Golden Baobab top tier African and international publishing partners, the benefit of increased publicity that comes with being named a Golden Baobab winner, and opportunities to attend exclusive Golden Baobab workshops to learn and grow as a children’s book writer.

Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers

This prize is awarded annually to a young African author under the age of 18 who demonstrates the talent and drive to become the next great African author for children. Entrants must submit a Rising Writer Personal Profile and an unpublished story that meets the Early Chapter Book Prize requirements (5,000 – 10,000 words intended for readers from ages 9-11 years). In addition to these, entrants who wish to do so may submit 4 more stories. These additional stories can meet either the Picture Book Prize requirements or the Early Chapter Book Prize requirements. It is not compulsory to submit additional stories but they may strengthen an entrant’s candidacy. Please note that entrants below age 18 who submit stories but do not submit a Rising Writer Personal Profile will only be considered for the individual book prize category in which their submissions fall, and will not be considered for the Rising Writer Prize. The winner of this prize will receive $1,000 (USD), the benefit of increased publicity that comes with being named a Golden Baobab winner, opportunities to attend exclusive Golden Baobab workshops to learn and grow as a future children’s book writer, and will serve on the prestigious panel of judges for the 2014 Golden Baobab Prize, bringing a critical young perspective to the evaluation process.

For Rules and Regulations, please click here. 

Submit your story here. 

Submission deadline for 2013 is 11:59pm GMT Sunday, July 14, 2013.