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

 

Call for Submissions: Voices – an Anthology of Contemporary Art and Literature

Voices is an anthology of contemporary art and literature interested in exploring every single place that makes up our world. It is a curious work, determined to reveal places and the lives they consist. The world is one global place, and is made up of smaller places called continents, which is made up of smaller places called countries made up of smaller cities and towns. Thus, we want to showcase the various places that make the world a global village.

‘Voices’ is as it is called is a conglomeration of voices from a place, be it a region, town, country or county. The voices are unique, stemming from various notions and interpretations of different people on this particular place. The anthology places its interest on places rather than ideas or abstract nouns. For us, places reveal people, places have a life of their own that we want to show the world.

 Voices welcomes submissions of all kind and is opposed to stereotypical writing or art. We want something dynamic, uncommon and unusual that tells the true story of a place.

 The Ife Issue

 MayFair Roundabout, Ile-Ife (Photo Credit: Voices Anthology)

Ile-Ife is an ancient Yoruba town in Southwestern Nigeria, Osun State. Also known as Ife, the town is renowned for its place in Yoruba folk myth as the traditional home of

Yoruba civilization and doubles as a holy city of humankind. It boasts of art and culture and rich history that stands it out as one of the most desirable archaeological sites in Southwestern Nigeria. These exquisite characteristics of the small city peppered with mysteries ignite the interest to debut this anthology with this place- Ife.

We are accepting submissions from all over on the theme of ‘Ife’. We believe in the concept of borderlessness, that everyone can talk about every place, especially through art and literature, and we want to reach every one in every place with the stories and pictures and arts of Ife as well.

 All submissions must explore, reveal and / or revolve around the place ‘Ife’. We accept compelling and atypical short fiction, non-fiction, book reviews, poetry, photography, art, and conversations.

 Formatting Guidelines

All submissions must;

• Be formatted in 1.5 line spacing
• Be properly edited for errors (Works dotted with errors will have reduced chances of being selected for publication)
• Be in font 12 Times New Roman
• Contain a cover page stating name, mailing address, email address, phone number (with International dialing code, title of piece and word count).
• Be sent as a Microsoft word doc or docx file attachment. Photography and art may be sent as jpeg file.
• Be sent as attachments
• Have email subject as FIRST NAME LAST NAME. For example Akintunde Bello (where there are multiple submissions, the submissions should have a number after the first name and last name signifying what number of submission it is.)
• Be sent along with a bio of not more than 50 words (in third person) in the body of the mail.

Acknowledgement of Receipt
Submission window is from July 15 to September 15. Upon receipt of your submission, you will receive a mail within 72 hours acknowledging receipt. If you do not receive a mail, please do not resend your work, simply send a query to voicesquery@gmail.com

Response Time

No responses are given about pieces being accepted for the anthology until the end of October. Only selected works will get responses by the end of October.

Multiple Submissions

Multiple submissions are accepted, however, we aim at publishing as many views and as many names as possible with a wide as possible geographical spread.

Copyright

Please note that we do not accept already work already published elsewhere in print or on the web. All submissions must be previously unpublished. We maintain first copyrights of all works submitted for the first six months after publication of the anthology after which the work may be used elsewhere.

Fiction

Must be between 1,500 and 4,500 words. We accept any form from horror to surreal and magical. Any form is acceptable as long as it conforms to the theme and is compelling. Multiple submissions must be sent as individual attachments with individual cover pages Fiction submissions should be sent to voicesfiction@gmail.com

Non-fiction

Must be between 1,500 and 2, 500 words. Memoirs, essays, travel writings and all forms of creative non-fiction are accepted. News pieces, op-eds, articles, scholarly and academic papers and journalistic writings are not accepted. We want creative and compelling non- fiction. Multiple submissions must be sent as individual attachments with individual cover pages. Submissions should be sent to voicesnonfiction@gmail.com

Book Reviews

We are accepting a small number of book reviews so submissions of book reviews must be pitched. Pitches may be no more than 400 words and be sent in the body of the mail to voiceseditor2015@gmail.com .Response time for pitches is 24 hours.

All book reviews must be sent to the fiction editor to voicesnonfiction@gmail.com

Poetry
Each poem must be no more than two pages long. No more than three poems may be submitted in one document. Each poem title must be indicated above the poem individually as well as on the cover page. All poetry submissions must be sent as attachment to voicespoetry2015@gmail.com

Art and Photography

We are also open to digital art and photography. Must be high resolution jpeg files (300 dpi or higher) and not larger than 3MB. Each submission must be properly named and sent as an attachment to voicesphotoart@gmail.com

Conversations

We are not looking for bland interviews, we want active, participatory and lively conversations that inspire, intrigue, and even spark more conversations. Conversations must not exceed 1, 500 words. All conversations must be first pitched. Pitches must be no more than 400 words and should be sent to voiceseditor2015@gmail.com. Pitches will be responded to within 24 hours. Conversation submissions should be sent to voicesconvos@gmail.com

For more information visit:

www.voiceslitanth.blogspot.com/2015/07/voices-anthology-of-contemporary-art.html

Best African Artist to get $1million at Kora Awards

The organizers of pan-African music awards, Kora Awards, have revealed that the winner of the Best Artist of the Continent at the 2015 edition of the award will receive a grand prize of $1 million as it officially calls for entries from musicians across the African continent and Diaspora.

Kora said only artistes who have been voted as best of their region on the continent will be eligible for the Best Artist of the Continent trophy and prize. It said the financial reward for other categories will only be given to award winners who are in attendance at the awards ceremony with absent artists awarded the trophy alone. This year’s edition, targeted at celebrating excellence in musical artistry in Africa and Diaspora, has 27 categories across regions and genres, and a monetary reward associated with each trophy.

The 2015 edition of Kora will take place on December 13 in Windhoek, Namibia.“The song or songs participating in the competition must have been published between January1, 2014 and July 15, 2015,” the organisers said. “The songs must be of quality, must not be damaged and must be readable on any drive.”

See full categories and prizes below:

 Best Male Artist – West Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best Female Artist -West Africa:50 000$ USD

Best Male Artist -East Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best Female Artist – East Africa:50 000$ USD

Best Male Artist – Central Africa: 50 000 $ USD

Best Female Artist – Central Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best Male Artist of Southern Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best Female Artist – Southern Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best Male Artist -North Africa: 50 000$ USD

Best African Group: 20 000$ USD

Best Male Artist – Spiritual Music: 20 000$ USD

Best Female Artist – Spiritual Music: 20 000$ USD

Best Group -Spiritual Music: 20 000$ USD

Best Traditional Music Artist – male:20 000$ USD

Best Traditional Music Artist – Female: 20 000$ USD

Best Traditional Music Group of Africa: 20 000$ USD

Most promising artist – Male: 20 000$ USD

Most promising artist – Female: 20 000$ USD

Best Artist of the African Diaspora: 20 000$USD

Best Video of the year: 20 000$ USD

Best Collaboration of the year: 20 000$ USD

Best Album of the year: 20 000$ USD

Legend Award: 50 000$ USD

Best Hip Hop Artist: 20 000$ USD

Best Urban Music Artist: 20 000$ USD

Most Downloaded Song of the year: 20 000$ USD

Best Artist of the Continent: 1 000 000$ USD

Call for Submissions for 2016 Literary Awards

The PEN Literary Awards are the most comprehensive in the United States. Each year, with the help of its partners and supporters, PEN confers nearly $150,000 to writers in the fields of fiction, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, translation, drama, or poetry. Submissions and nominations will be accepted from June 1, 2015 through August 15, 2015 for the following 2016 awards:

Book Submissions

Fiction and Nonfiction

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction ($25,000)

For a fiction writer whose debut work of fiction—a novel or collection of short stories published in 2015—represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise

PEN/ Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay ($10,000)

For a book of essays published in 2015 that exemplifies the dignity and esteem of the essay form

PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award ($10,000)

For a book of literary nonfiction published in 2015 on the subject of the physical or biological sciences

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award ($5,000)

For a distinguished biography published in the United Statesin 2015

PEN Open Book Award ($5,000)

For an exceptional work of literature by an author of color published in 2015

PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000)

For a nonfiction book published in 2015 on the subject of sports. Eligible titles should be of a biographical, investigative, historical, or analytical nature and of the strongest literary character

Translation

PEN Translation Prize ($3,000)

For a book-length translation of prose into English publishedin 2015 (works of poetry will not be accepted; for works of poetry in translation, please see the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation below)

 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3,000)

For a book-length translation of poetry into English published in 2015

PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants ($2,000–$4,000)

To support the translation of book-length works of prose, poetry, and drama

PEN/Edward and Lily Tuck Award ($3,000)

For Paraguayan literature not yet translated into English

Unpublished Manuscripts

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship ($5,000)

For an author of children’s or young-adult fiction, who has published at least two books, to complete a book-length work-in-progress. The Fellowship has been developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber but who have not yet attracted a broad readership

PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction

Founded by Barbara Kingsolver ($25,000)

To the author of an unpublished novel that addresses issues of social justice. The prize also includes a publishing contract with Algonquin Books

 PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize ($10,000)

For a promising young writer under the age of 35 whose unpublished work of nonfiction addresses a global and/or multicultural issue.

 Career Awards

One of the many benefits of PEN membership is the ability to submit letters of recommendation on behalf of your colleagues acknowledging their achievements in literature. Send in your letter of nomination by August 15, 2015.

 PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing ($5,000)

For a living American or U.S.-based writer each year to celebrate their body of work and long-time contributions to the field of literary sports writing

 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Awards for Drama ($7,500 & $2,500)

Three awards which honor a Master American Dramatist, American Playwright in Mid-Career, and Emerging American 

Playwright

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry ($5,000)

For a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work represents a notable presence in American Literature

 In 2016, PEN will also be offering the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction ($25,000) to an author whose body of work places them in the highest ranks of American literature. However, this award will be administered by internal nomination only.

Ankara Press: Call for Submissions- 30 August 2015

Ankara Press is a fresh new voice publishing romantic fiction for the African market, and is devoted to publishing easy-to-read, purse-size books with African settings, storylines and characters. Ankara Press launched in December 2014 with six titles, set in locations as diverse as Lagos, Jos, Cape Town and the Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross Rivers state, and the novels have received glowing reviews and media attention from across the globe.

 Ankara Press is now looking to commission the next wave of romance titles, for publication in 2016. The romances will be published initially as e-books, and easily downloadable to mobile devices.

 What are we looking for? We are looking for strong, original voices to write romance novels for the African and Diaspora market. The novels could be standalone or form part of a series. We don’t want stories that simply recreate traditional romances. Often, these rely on dangerous notions of male dominance, control and manipulation that have done great harm to women all over the world. Many women tolerate abusive situations because they wrongly believe that this is what romance should look like.

 We are looking for a new kind of romance. One in which the thrill of fantasy is alive but realized in a healthier, more grounded reality and gives women the tools to shape their own destinies. We want stories in which strong, capable female characters meet charming men who are secure in their identities and respectful of a woman’s choices.

 We are also keen to publish stories that explore same-sex relationships. We would be particularly delighted to receive more submissions from male writers. We would like to read manuscripts in which the male characters are not businessmen, lawyers or financiers, but have alternative careers. And they do not have to be wealthy!

 The novels should be between 35,000 – 45,000 words long (they should not exceed this word limit) and should be divided into about 10-15 chapters.

 How do I apply?

1) Please check out our existing Ankara Press titles at www.ankarapress.com, which will give you some idea of what we are looking for.

2) Please read carefully through our submission guidelines at https://cdn.shopify.com/s/ files/1/0554/2553/files/Ankara_Submission_guidelines_18.01.15.pdf?1516

3) You will need to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters of your novel to the email listed on the website.

 Closing date for submissions: 30 August 2015. Early submissions are encouraged.