Call For Entries: ANA/Yusuf Ali Creative Writing Workshop

Following receipt of funding from Barrister Yusuf Ali (SAN) for the fourth year running, the Association of Nigerian Authors is pleased to announce the first ever ANA/Yusuf Ali Creative Writing Workshop.

The ANA/Yusuf Ali Creative Writing Workshop will be hosted by the Association of Nigerian Authors in Lagos, Nigeria from the 2nd to 4th of October, 2015. A total of twenty students from tertiary institutions in Nigeria will be selected, from entries received, to participate in the workshop over the period of a single weekend. 

The target of the workshop is to produce an Anthology of Creative Writing in honour of our benefactor, Yusuf Ali SAN.

CRITERIA

1. All registered students of English and related Language courses, studying in Nigeria, are eligible.

2. Other Nigerian students with interests in creative writing are encouraged to apply.

3. Submissions should be made via email ONLY.

4. Send entry to <ana.review14@gmail.com> in a SINGLE Microsoft Word file with the following details.

a) 100-word bio.

b) 600-word writing sample.

c) Full contact details including school affiliation, phone, email and a referee, preferably the head of department.

ALL submissions must be received by NOON of September 16, 2015.

Successful candidates will be contacted on or before September 23, 2015.

EXPECTATIONS

1. The Association shall subsidise transportation cost for all participants to Lagos.

2. The Association will undertake the accommodation of all participants.

3. Tea and lunch will be provided.

4. ALL participants are to contribute a short story, not less than 3000 words, to the anthology.

The workshop will be facilitated by two well known Nigerian authors of great standing who will teach the rudiments of creative writing, an emphasis on fiction, through an intensive combination of talking, reading and class work. The facilitators will also serve as mentors to the participants after the workshop contact proper. 

The Workshop is meant to see a shift of emphasis from reading to writing and would further cement the Association and our benefactor, Yusuf Ali SAN, in the public mind as an all-round player in literary development amongst secondary school students in Nigeria.

Remi Raji Tanko Okoduwa

President, ANA Gen. Secretary, ANA

CALL FOR ENTRIES: ANA/YUSUF ALI CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

- See more here.

There is a growing interest in literature published and discussed within African countries. Saraba Magazine, a leading literary publishing outfit based in Nigeria, has been at the forefront of this conversation by championing the work of emerging writers. The Saraba Manuscript Project will consolidate this mission.

Nigerian writers resident in Nigeria or elsewhere in the world are invited to submit completed fiction or non-fiction manuscripts. Please note that each writer is expected to submit only one manuscript for either the fiction or non-fiction category. The contest will produce a shortlist of ten writers, five in each category. All shortlisted manuscripts will initially be published as e-books and audio-books. In addition, Saraba Literary Trust will look to partner with one of the foremost literary publishers in Nigeria to publish the winning manuscripts from each category.

After publication, the shortlisted works will be promoted over the period of a year across major cities in Nigeria. Readings will be held at cultural centers and on university campuses. An intensive online campaign will also follow, which will feature collaborative social media interaction.

The prize includes an award of N100,000 to the winning manuscripts in the fiction and the non-fiction categories. All shortlisted entrants will receive a publishing deal from Saraba, including N100,000 advance against royalties.

Visit manuscript.sarabamag.com for information on how to submit, judges, and partners.

 

Call for Entries for Etisalat Prize for Literature 2015

Lagos, Nigeria; June 18, 2015: Etisalat Nigeria, today announced the call for entries to the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature which is in its third year. The Etisalat Prize for Literature is the first ever Pan African prize celebrating debut African writers of published fiction. According to Matthew Willsher, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, “The Etisalat Prize for Literature serves as a platform for the discovery of new creative writing talents out of the African continent.”

The CEO highlighted that following the success of the second year which was concluded early this year, the literary community is eagerly awaiting the third year. NoViolet Bulawayo won the maiden edition of the Etisalat Prize for Literature with her highly celebrated debut novel, We Need New Names, while Songeziwe Mahlangu emerged winner of the second year of the prize with his novel, Penumbra.

The Etisalat prize is designed to foster writing in Africa, bring exciting new African writers to the attention of a wider audience, and promote the reading culture. The winner receives a cash prize of £15,000 in addition to a fellowship at the prestigious University of East Anglia under the mentorship of the award-winning author, Professor Giles Foden. The winner will also receive a sponsored three-city book tour while the two other shortlisted writers will receive a sponsored two-city book tour to promote their books. The Etisalat Prize for Literature also supports publishers by purchasing 1000 copies of the shortlisted books for distribution within the continent.

This prize accepts submitted works which must be a writer’s first work of fiction over 30,000 words, and published within the last 24 months. The Etisalat Prize will also launch the online based flash fiction prize later in the year to engage the rising stars of fiction.

Rules and guidelines for entry are available at prize.etisalat.com.ng

 

VQR strives to publish the best writing we can find. While we have a long history of publishing accomplished and award-winning authors, we also seek and support emerging writers. A look at one of our latest issues will show you the diversity of voices we publish.

Genres

• Poetry: All types and length.
• Short Fiction: Length is from 2,000–8,000 words. We are generally not interested in genre fiction (such as romance, science fiction, or fantasy).
• Nonfiction: Length is 3,500–9,000 words. We publish literary, art, and cultural criticism; reportage; historical and political analysis; and travel essays. We publish few author interviews or memoirs. In general, we are looking for nonfiction that looks out on the world, rather than within the self.
• Nonfiction pitches: We also accept pitches through our submission portal. Submit the pitch in a document, as you would for a finished piece, and include an estimate of any expenses involved to produce your story.

General Guidelines

• We only consider unpublished work. Please do not submit previously published material, including work published in anthologies, chapbooks, or online.
• We only accept submissions online via Submittable. We do not accept submissions via e-mail.
• Please read past issues of VQR before submitting your work so you have a clear sense of our editorial focus. A portion of every issue is freely available on this site. Or you can purchase a recent issue at your local newsstand or bookstore, or directly from us.
• Submissions are limited to two prose pieces and five poems every six months. Due to the large number of submissions we receive, we have to place a limit on submission of new work until six months after your last submission, regardless of whether we have made a decision on your most recently submitted work.
• If work you have submitted to us is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately.
• Eighty percent of submissions are reviewed within three months, but due to the large number we receive, 20% of responses are delayed for longer than three months. Please be patient with us; we receive between one and two thousand submissions each month.
• Responses will be provided by e-mail. Due to the high volume of submissions, we cannot respond personally to every submission.
• All files must be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), or Plain Text (.txt) formats. Please prepare your submission in letter-sized format, with ample margins, double-spaced, using a standard typeface (e.g., Times, Helvetica, Arial) and font size (12 point is best).
• Please use minimal document and font styling in your submission.

Print Magazine Payment & Copyright
For poetry, we pay $200 per poem, up to 4 poems; for a suite of 5 or more poems, we usually pay $1,000; for poems longer than 50 lines, the payment is usually higher. For prose, we generally pay approximately 25 cents per word, depending on length. For investigative reporting, we pay at a higher rate, sometimes including pre-approved travel expenses. Book reviews are generally 2,000-2,400 words and are paid at a flat rate of $500.

Our standard publishing agreement asks for the following rights in exchange: first North American print and digital magazine rights; nonexclusive online rights; and other limited rights. Copyright is retained by the author at all times. Authors are free to resell the work, though we do ask for a 90-day exclusive from our first publication of the work.

Online content is generally paid at $100-$200, depending upon genre and length. Please do not e-mail us to ask if we received your submission. If the submissions system acknowledged your submission, or if you received an e-mail confirming receipt of your submission, then rest assured that we have received it and we will review it.

Reading Periods

We read fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions June 15 to July 12 and October 1 to November 15. We also read nonfiction pitches from June 15 to December 1.
 
Click here to go to our online submission form at Submittable.

OAU Staff Club Celebrates King Sunny Ade

Entries for Boston Review’s 2016 Short Story Contest Are Now Open

Boston Review is now accepting entries for the Aura Estrada Short Story Contest 2016. Founded in 1975, Boston Review is one of America’s most prestigious literature and politics magazines. Past contributors include Saul Bellow, Jhumpa Lahiri and John Updike.

Boston Review’s Aura Estrada Short Story Contest is open to all writers, regardless of citizenship or publication history. The winner of the contest will receive $1500 and have his or her work published in the July/August 2016 issue of Boston Review. The runners-up stories may also be published. The 2016 contest will be judged by Jennifer Egan, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for A Visit from the Goon Squad.

 How to Enter the Aura Estrada Short Story Contest

The Aura Estrada Short Story Contest is for pieces up to 5000 words and all entries must be previously unpublished. Any author writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close friend of the judge. Boston Review strongly encourages online entries. Contestants also may submit entries via postal mail but will not receive acknowledgement of successful submission. Mailed manuscripts should be double-spaced and submitted with a cover note listing the author’s name, address, and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submission. Names should not appear on the stories themselves. Email submissions are not accepted. A non-refundable $20 entry fee must accompany each story entered. All submitters receive a complementary half-year subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review.

Online entries can be submitted via Boston Review’s contest entry manager. Alternatively, submissions can be mailed to:

Short Story Contest

Boston Review
PO Box 425786
Cambridge MA 02142
United States of America

Entries close on Thursday 1 October 2015. For full entry information and conditions visit the Boston Review’s Contest Page.

Call for Submissions: Lantern Books Accepts Kids-Oriented Articles/ Poems/Stories for Digital Publications

Lantern Books is a division of Literamed Publications Nigeria Literamed, the Nigeria’s foremost children’s/ young adults’ books publisher located in Lagos (Nigeria) and Accra (Ghana).

Lantern Books accepts articles, poems, nursery rhymes, puzzles, jokes, riddles, short stories, etc. from kids, teachers, parents/ guardians to be published on our digital platform for public consumption. Our digital platforms include:

Website: http://www.lantern-books.com

Blog: http://www.mylanternbooks.wordpress.com

Facebook page/ group: https://www.facebook.com/mylanternbooks/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/124850981184633/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyLanternBooks

Google+: https://www.google.com/+MyLanternBooks

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/MyLanternBooks

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mylanternbooks/

Tumblr: http://mylanternbooks.tumblr.com/

School owners, teachers and parents/ guardians are enjoined to encourage their pupils/ kids to write short articles/ essays, poems, rhymes, etc. We are more than prepared to help fine tune their writing skills by subjecting their works to professional editing and building confidence in them by publishing the works on our digital platforms.

Submissions must be unique (we are strongly against plagiarism) and must be accompanied with the identity of the author, that is, name, age, school, class, and so on.

A student/ writer can submit as many articles as possible but each article must not be more than 600 words. Poems must not be more than 10 lines.

Teachers can write about their teaching experience and related themes while parents can share their parenting experience. However, the entries must be kid related, educative, and interesting.

All entries and enquiries should be forwarded to lanternbook@gmail.com