Entries for Caine Prize Award open
Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo won the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing with her short story Five Years Next Sunday.
The submissions for the 2023 AKO Caine Prize Award for African Writing are now open.
The prestigious prize is an annual literary award for a published short story by an African writer, published in English, whether they reside in Africa or elsewhere.
In addition to the £10,000 prize, five shortlisted writers are invited to London for a series of events including public readings, interviews with media institutions, private event with agents, and an invitation to the 2023 award ceremony where the winner will be announced.
Four shortlisted writers receive £500 each.
The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline on January 26, 2023. For the 2023 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between February 1, 2018 and January 25, 2023.
Entries must be more than 3,000 words and less than 10,000 words. Entries must be submitted by a publisher.
This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and literary arts oriented websites.
Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
Self-published and unpublished works are not eligible.
The shortlisted stories will also be published in the 2023 AKO Caine Prize anthology.
Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo was awarded the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story Five Years Next Sunday, published in Disruption (2021)/Short Story Day Africa.
Five Years Next Sunday, which won the 2021 Short Story Day Africa Prize, is a story about a young woman with the unique power to call the rain in her hair.
Feared by her family and community, a chance encounter with a foreigner changes her fortunes, but there are duplicitous designs upon her most prized and vulnerable possession.
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This article was first published in The EastAfrican.
