Announcing the Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition

Deadline: September 30, 2022

The Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition is open internationally to all writers aged 16 and over. 

There is no set theme or genre, but entries must be no longer than 3000 words. First prize is £1000, a free online creative writing course of the winner’s choice, and publication on  Creative Writing Ink. 

Two runners-up will receive £200 each. 

The final judge is prize-winning author and academic Kerry Hadley-Pryce. Results will be announced on October 30th. 

Find out all the details, and how to enter via Submittable, here:  creativewritingink.co.uk/creative-writing-ink-short-story-competition-2022/

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Durban primary school teacher launches tell-all book about her abusive husband

A Durban primary school teacher who survived abuse and attempted murder by her husband has penned a book about her ordeal.

Nkosingiphile Happiness Nxumalo, a mother of three from KwaNongoma, in her book titled Ngiyokhohlwa ngifile (I will never forget) details how she suffered at the hands of her husband, who committed suicide after thinking he had killed her in 2019.

Nxumalo’s book was launched over the weekend at the eThekwini municipal library.

She said her husband hacked her on the head and back with a machete in their home until he thought she was dead and then took a rope and hanged himself.

The incident left her right side paralysed. Nxumalo said she had to go through intensive therapy to heal.

“My husband was that person who controlled me. He would tell me that I needed to be home at a certain time. He chose my friends and family members that I could speak to.

“Sometimes, he would randomly check my cellphone just to see who I am talking to and my messages. He would beat me up whenever he felt like it and tell me how much he loved me and that I should never tell anyone about what is going on in our marriage because it was between us as a couple, and that was my biggest mistake. He told me that I would leave the marriage in a coffin,” she said.

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Gather round for some passionate word play in Namibia

A compilation of amazing singers, poets and spoken word artists will be gracing the stage at the Namibian Arts Association on Wednesday.

Poet lovers can expect to be swept off their feet by the lineup of renowned and underground artists at the PoetryNam organised event taking place under the theme ‘The Return’.

The performers are RBP, Andreas Speaks, Tims, Mandy, Vocalfront, Mr Morales, Charmaine, Z, 44Timez, The Neighbourhood baddie, James._ the._poet, Michelle, Mr Poet, Gustavo Shitaleni, Jemimah Ndebele, North Side Rabbi and Arthur.

“The aesthetics of the event is simply just to enjoy some soulful music and listen to some deep and passionate spoken word. The audience should expect to be hit with a lot of love, sensual sounds and passionate wordplay,” said co-founder of PoetryNam Patricia Uapunduka, also known as Patric.Star.

After taking a break in November last year, Uapunduka is delighted at the return of their activities from a hiatus that was forced by “other priorities that had to be met.

“As a team, we just had to sit down and plan ahead for the future of PoetryNam, hence the theme,” she stated.

She said the theme also speaks of what’s still to come in terms of more performances and new artists.

In efforts to keep the poetry
community together, PoetryNam was founded on 12 August 2018 by Uapunduka and Yamikani Mnthambala, with Shen Nanyanga Unoviua Kaereho and Charmaine Gamxamus also serving as committee members.

Tickets cost N$20 in advance, and N$30 at the door. The show starts at 16h00.

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Zimbabwean poet set to publish anthology. Bemoans lack of digital support as locals are used to download free stuff

Zimbabwean poet, Mandhla Mavolwane, is set to publish a second offering titled “The Politics of Life”.

The new project comes after his debut anthology named “Ghetto Symphony” published in 2019.

He said the latest offering will also come in audiobook technology, in an effort to interact with audiences, who have visual impairment.

Mavolwane, an award-winning contemporary author, compiled a rare anthology which includes drama extract, prose passages and poems in this new project.

“The Politics of Life is birthed after a thorough introspection of the persona that egged Ghetto symphony.

“Ghetto Symphony is an orchestra of short stories and poems that vividly portrays the socioeconomic situations affecting the teenage and young adult groups across Zimbabwe,” Mavolwane said.

“It’s time I started focusing on my growth, finding new ways of writing and deriving my own style that will set me apart from the person I was when I was working on Ghetto Symphony,” he said.

The subject of his latest offering is a manifestation from the events which the author experienced on a daily basis.

Mavolwane ridicules life as a political canvas, which can be drawn in black and white, hence the book title, “The Politics of Life.”

Previously, the author faced challenges in publishing his debut as publishers found his style of writing as alien.

“Firstly, it was rejection then I had to rework the whole project. After approval by the publisher, there was shortage of finance to print copies but then I managed to get paperbacks later and created a targeted audience ready to explore the writing,” said Mavolwane.

“Online marketing is still low as locals are used to just accessing free portable document formats,” he said.

He also takes a new leaf in the digital era and embrace audiobook format for his forthcoming anthology as an inclusion measure of the sensory stimulation when reading.

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Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund​ for Nigeria, West and Central Africa 2022

Deadline: September 4, 2022
Applications are open for the Netflix Creative Equity Scholarships Fund for Nigeria, West & Central Africa 2022. 

Currently, many young Africans in the creative space struggle with access to adequate resources to support their journey, though strong academic institutions do exist on the continent.

Netflix Scholarships aim to address this challenge by boosting financial support to Sub-Saharan African youth and empowering them in their pursuit of knowledge and skills in the creative academic field. This fund will enable them to access the highest quality programs and institutions in the region.

Scholarship

The size of the scholarship fund will be defined on a case-by-case basis considering the TV/Film school programme cost and the country average living cost, but it will include tuition fees, study material fees, accommodation and living expenses.

Eligibility

Applicants must be citizens of and currently living in a West or Central African country:West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, TogoCentral Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé & PrincipeNote: Applicants who are citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are covered by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) programme.

Applicants must be enrolled in the partner institutions, namely:National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI)–GhanaNational Film Institute Jos –NigeriaPan-Atlantic University–NigeriaInstitut Philippe Maury de l’Audiovisuel et du Cinéma (IPMAC) du groupe EM-Gabon Université (EMGU)–GabonInstitut Supérieur des Métiers de l’Audiovisuel (ISMA) –Benin
Applicants must have been studying TV/Cinema industry related courses

Note: Although the scholarship programme is open to all students enrolled in TV and film programs, priority will be given to those who are graduating within two years of applying

Application

Applicants will be asked to submit their 2022 transcripts, certificates, proof of enrollment, a recommendation letter from a mentor/professor/trainer, and a recognition award if relevant.

Applicants must submit their applications by Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 11:59PM (GMT).

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The St. Lawrence Book Award for Debut Poetry

Deadline: August 31, 2022

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished first collection of poetry or prose. 

The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length manuscript in any genre. 

The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. 

Prizes are awarded on publication. For more details and information about how to submit your manuscript, follow this link:  blacklawrencepress.com/submissions-and-contests/the-st-lawrence-book-award/

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All set for Nairobi International Book Fair

The Nairobi International Book Fair 2022 runs in Nairobi, Kenya from September 28 – October 2, 2022. The fair’s theme is “‘Publishing in the new era.”

The Nairobi International Book Fair is the regional marketplace for books and it brings together publishing professionals, authors, booksellers, print suppliers, media, and readers from Africa and around the world. 

Organised by the Kenya Publishers Association, it has been held for the last 23 years and has grown to be one of the leading book exhibition places in the region. In 2021, the fair had to deffered on Covid-19 concerns.

The 2022 edition of the fair is set to happen in a hybrid physical and virtual setting with the onsite events at the Sarit Centre Expo Hall, Westlands, Nairobi.

Activities lined up during the bookfair period include:
* Workshops and seminars on topical issues
* Book launches
* Children’s activities
* Presentation of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature
* Budding Authors Seminar, Seminar on how to get published.
* Books clearance sale and raffle for books- Publishers will sell books at huge discounts.
* Books exhibition
* Accessing unlimited business opportunities and so much more.

There are still opportunities for those who want to book stands at the fair.

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Young authors celebrated at Folklore Festival. MC is poet Napo Masheane

Award-winning storyteller Napo Masheane will host the inaugural Folklore Festival on October 1 at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg as a celebration of African culture, customs and community.

The festival marks the end of SA Heritage Month with a diverse panAfrican creative offering from North, South, East and West Africa.

South Africa Music Awards award-winning storyteller and festival founder Pilani Bubu said: “We would like to announce that our MC and on the main stage is thespian and poet Napo Masheane.”

Folklore comprises the traditional beliefs, customs and stories of a community passed from generation to generation by word-of-mouth. 

Contemporary folklore encompasses forms of creative expression such as folk art, song and dance and children’s rhymes.
Aside from music, the Folklore Festival has a diverse cultural offering.

“Our kids area, in partnership with Ethnic Kids Books, has announced our programme of young African authors at the Book Fair this year.

“We have youth activist and author of My Coily Crowny Hair, Zulaikha Patel; HIV activist and author of I am still Zuri, Nozi Qamngana; 10-year-old child author of Enough! Stop Bullying, Siyavuya Mabece; author of My Family of Superheroes, Zinhle T Matthews; editor, translator and author of Chulumanco, Tumelo Moleleki; and Amanda Mahlangu and Nonkululeko Nkosi, co-authors of Khanya’s First Day at the Park.

“The kids area will also include performance workshops in indigenous instruments, uhadi (Xhosa bow), drumming, performance and play with Toys with Roots, and its own market with children’s literature and inclusive toys for African children,” said Bubu.

The National School of the Arts students will perform their highly anticipated African Reflections.

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Author gives hope to survivors through new book

From once begging on the streets, to packing groceries at a supermarket and later moving on to become a receptionist and then legal secretary, Gelvandale author Schamelle Rulf has done it all.

Rulf even started a tough journey of entrepreneurship in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and started her own bakery.
Her career journey alone is an inspiring story to tell, yet it is not her only story.

The mother of three shares her story of surviving abuse at the hands of her late exhusband, in her book, I AM, and offers hope of healing and thriving to other abuse survivors.

The book is Rulf’s story of reclaiming her power and dignity, falling in love with herself and living her life to the fullest.

When she started writing the book in 2016, Rulf’s aim was to share the story of her strained relationship with her mother.

However, after the death of her ex-husband and alleged abuser two years ago, Rulf once again picked up her pen and continued her story.

Rulf said she met her exhusband when she was 22 and married him after only six months.

Though he started physically abusing her two weeks before their wedding, she was backed into a corner to go ahead with the wedding, she said.

“Two weeks before our wedding, he came home with a love bite. I told him I wasn’t going to marry a cheater and cancelled the wedding but I eventually went ahead with it because he threatened to hurt his mother whom I loved dearly.

“I felt I had no choice but to marry him because I would rather take the abuse than watch him hurt his frail mother.

“My wedding day was such a sad and gloomy day for me. The abuse only worsened from there,” Rulf said.

The author stayed in the marriage for six years before they called it quits.

She said people around them knew she was being physically abused because she often had bruises on her face, but she never spoke about it.

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US$1 500 plus publication in this poetry and short story competition

Extended Deadline: August 31, 2022

Kallisto Gaia Press sponsors two annual prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Ocotillo Review. Zoë Fay-Stindt will judge the Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize; Jen Knox will judge the Chester B. Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize. 

Submit up to three poems of no more than 65 lines each or a story of up to 4,200 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a copy of Ocotillo Review, by August 31.

Visit  kallistogaiapress.submittable.com/submit for guidelines. Proceeds are donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease and the MD Anderson Foundation for Breast Cancer.

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It's all systems go for the Open Book Festival 2022 in Cape Town

The Open Book Festival 2022, after a mini-edition in March, returns to Cape Town, South Africa from September 2-4, 2022.

The Open Book Festival is a literary festival held annually in Cape Town, South Africa since 2011. It has in the past included over 150 literary events, featuring over 100 authors over 5 days. 

It was initiated by Mervyn Sloman of The Book Lounge (a Cape Town-based bookshop) and Ben Williams then of ‘Books Live’ now a literary-focused subsidiary of South African newspaper Times Live.

After a two-year Covid-19 prompted break, the festival had a virtual mini-edition sponsored by the South African Department of Arts and Culture and Heinrich Böll Stiftung in Cape Town on March 26-27.

“We were lucky enough to run a mini festival in March. It was incredibly emotional to see the faces of so many people again for the first time in two years. It has also been fantastic to have workshops running outside of the digital spaces. There’s something about being able to learn amongst others that I don’t think can be easily replaced,” event organiser Frankie Murrey said. 

The festival would be a return to an in-person format, people will be able to interact with one another, face-to-face, in September. Some of the featured guests will be Rofhiwa Maneta, Africa Melane, Terry-Ann Adams, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Musawenkosi Khanyile, Fred Khumalo, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Lucas Ledwaba, Lethokuhle Msimang, Kopano Ratele, Bongani Kona, Pulane Mpondo, Yewande Omotoso, Mohale Mashigo, Rofhiwa Maneta, Lethokuhle Msimang, Christopher Ouma, among others.

While in the past events were hosted in a variety of venues, this year many events will go down at the District Six Museum Homecoming Centre (HCC). One special event aimed at children will be hosted at The Book Lounge on Saturday, September 3.

“The Homecoming Centre is delighted that we can once again host the Open Book Festival. The subject matter and themes for the 2022 edition are matters that closely align with our mission here at the HCC and we could not be more excited to host discussions and meaningful engagement with the public at large,” says Chrischene Julius, acting director of the District Six Museum.

This year’s events are presented in association with the national Department of Sports Arts and Culture, The Heinrich Boll Foundation, The City of Cape Town, Jonathan Ball Publishers, and NB Publishers. They are supported by Penguin Random House and Pan Macmillan.

For those who want to buy tickets or for more information they can be assisted through the website, www.openbookfestival.co.za. 

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Button Poetry Seeks Video Submissions

Deadline: August 31, 2022

Button Poetry is now accepting entries for the 2022 Video Contest. We are looking for brave poetry that crosses borders or effaces them completely, work that enters into larger social conversations, work that lives in the world, work with a strong, unique voice and palpable energy. 

The winner will receive $500 and be featured across our social media, which collectively has 5M+ followers. 

Finalist Judge: Sabrina Benaim, author of Depression & Other Magic Tricks. 

The contest closes August 31, 2022. Find guidelines at  buttonpoetry.com/video-contest.

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Opportunities for writers and poets August 2022

In our continuing series, we share opportunities for those who wish to submit work be it poetry, prose, or other related arts in August 2022. These callouts are divided into journals, publishers, prizes, and education (MFAs, Fellowships, residencies).

Literary magazines/journals/Anthologies

Maroko

Márọkọ́, an annual print and digital journal published by the Lagos International Poetry Festival, is now receiving submissions for its first issue.

Deadline: September 30

Lolwe

Lolwe is an online literary magazine that publishes fiction, literary criticism, personal essays, photography, and poetry. Founded in January 2020 by Troy Onyango, the magazine has a Pan-African focus with the area of interest being Africa, the Caribbean, and the Black diaspora. Lolwe aims to publish more work by Black writers as this is a way to ensure greater visibility for stories by Black people and to give a platform and space for the “Black imagination.”

Lolwe Issue 6, which is open for submissions from August 1, will be guest edited by Tlotlo Tsamaase (Botswana), Frazier Michael (Japan), and Lucky Grace (Rwanda).

Deadline: August 31

Moremi Review

Founded on the values of equity, Moremi Review hopes to feature women-only voices both in the Nigerian literary sphere and beyond. They are named after Moremi Ajasoro, a legendary Yoruba queen.

Deadline: October 15

Guernica

Guernica publishes poetry, essays, reportage/journalism, criticism, and fiction, and we offer honoraria of $50 for poetry, $100 for original essays, and $150 for original fiction and for reportage/journalism.

Deadline: Not indicated

Olúmọ Review

Olúmọ Review seeks amazing poetry – poetry that is bold, poetry that would collide with rocks and grind them to powder, that sparks curiosity, that intrigues the intellect, that kicks in the teeth, that guts the heart, that says something genuine about the world as well as the individual. We celebrate diversity and are open to diverse styles, forms, and kinds of poetry, about any and all subjects.

Deadline: September 30

Decolonial Passage

Decolonial Passage presents each distinct piece of writing as a passage worthy of readers’ attention in which writers create texts to articulate a variety of themata affecting the human condition including, but not limited to authenticity, liberty, alienation, dignity, community, and boundless love. Decolonial Passage publishes writing from emerging and established writers who use language and form in innovative ways.

Deadline: Not indicated

Prizes

The Abena Korantemaa Oral History Prize 2022

We’re pleased to announce the opening of submissions for the 2022 edition of the Abena Korantemaa Oral History Prize, an annual award for Oral History narrated by a woman over the age of 65 years.

Deadline: September 4

Qazini Writing Competition

Featuring different themes/topics every year, Perspective Matters is a writing competition that invites us to look at the challenges we face in our society through a solution rather than a problem-focused lens. We ask writers of Kenyan descent to ferry us into their imagination, where we hope to be exposed to the endless possibilities within our collective reach, as human beings.

Deadline: August 8

Hamwe Festival Short Stories Contest

African writers on the continent and in the diaspora are invited to submit their short stories by September 25th, 2022. Stories should be between 2000 and 5000 words, and you can submit your story in English or French. The themes of this year’s prize are memory, heritage and mental health. The winners will be announced during Hamwe Festival in November 2022 and each of the winners will receive a $1000 cash prize.

Deadline: September 25

Kikwetu Flash Fiction Contest

In our continued quest to showcase new and established writers from East Africa and beyond, we are thrilled to launch our first writing contest as a special 8th issue to recognize exemplary work from a writer of African origin. Submit here. For our 8th issue, Kikwetu seeks 1200-word maximum flash fiction pieces from African writers on or off the continent. You may submit as many as two stories. The call-out is open-themed and we encourage you to send your best work.

Deadline: August 31

Hafsat Abdulwaheed Women Short Story Prize 2022

Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation is now accepting submissions for the 2022 edition of the Hafsat Abdulwaheed Women Short Story Prize. It will be judged by Eugenia Abu, Maryam Aliko Mohammed, and Halima Aliyu.

Deadline: August 13

Prix Collectif Parlons

The Collectif Parlons Poésie launches a call for texts from young poets in Senegal who have never been published at the expense of either author or editor. The aim of this call for texts is to encourage writing in Senegal, to generate new feathers and to enable them to have the opportunity of editorial support according to their potential. In addition, a prize will be awarded to the best collection of poems selected on the occasion.

Deadline: August 5.

Prix Littéraire FETKANN Maryse condé 2022

The Prix littéraire Fetkann Maryse Condé rewards the works, collections, research works or essays which promote the work of memory of the countries of the global South and all that goes in the direction of the promotion of human dignity in general. It is a creation of the French organisation CIFORDOM.

Deadline: September 30

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Afro Poetry Times August 2022 edition has the knack for great #poetry

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's writing redefined - it's the beauty of poetry unboxed.

Inspiration from poetry knows now boundaries. Get the digital copy #August copy of the Afro Poetry Times magazine from #PressReader. Be inspired through poetry!

As usual the August edition is packed and it features the beauty of poetry and the literary arts from cover to cover.

This edition features some great poems, short stories, book reviews, interviews, some competitions to win real money and lots more.

Get your copy from the link below. PressReader issue the leading digital magazines distributor.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/afro-poetry-times/20220801

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Date set for Lagos International Poetry Festival

The Lagos International Poetry Festival 2022, with the theme “Babel… A New Language,” runs from October 27 – 31, 2022.

The Lagos International Poetry Festival brings together poets, writers, artists, and thinkers from across the world to Lagos for a week of conversations, readings, performances, workshops, and adventure.

Founded in 2015 by poet Efe Paul Azino, it has established itself as one of the continent’s annual art and culture highlights.

The organisers have announced that the festival this year will happen at the tail end of October. Here is the official communication;

This year we consider how the technology of language underscores our sense of identity and facilitates our understanding of the relational universe.

Entire generations of people across the world have had their contributions to scientific advancement and intellectual engagement precluded by the power dynamic that subordinates language for language, blurring encoded histories and bodies of knowledge in the process. And so this year we center the mother-tongue and the ongoing reclamation of default languages from the rubble of colonialism, interrogating the implication of a re-imagination of language in local education, and the possibilities presented for the liberation of stories and societies.

The 2022 edition of the festival draws an array of guest poets, writers, translators, and performers, as they translate their experiences by taking us beneath the skin of their tongues. 

Watch out for conversations, performances, workshops, and parties with offerings from across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, the US, England, Scotland, Australia, India, Belgium, Germany, Canada, and Spain.

If you wish to keep up with proceedings from the Lagos-based festival, please follow their Facebook or Twitter. You can also sign up for information by clicking here.

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