Graywolf Press is pleased to announce that the submission period for the third Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize will run from August 1-31, 2021. The prize will be awarded for a first novel manuscript by an African author primarily residing in Africa and will again be judged by A. Igoni Barrett, author of the acclaimed novel Blackass, in conjunction with the Graywolf editors.
Graywolf Press is always looking for work that is distinctive, artistically singular, and of a high literary quality. For this prize, the Graywolf editors are seeking novels that are engaged with the current moment and that approach contemporary issues with innovative prose and fresh perspectives.
Submissions must be full-length, previously unpublished novel manuscripts, either originally written in English or a complete English translation. The winning manuscript will receive a $12,000 advance and publication by Graywolf Press, which will include a dedicated effort to making the book available in major markets in African countries. We will be accepting submissions through our page on Submittable at graywolfpress.submittable.com. If you have questions or difficulty using the site, please email africanfictionprize@graywolfpress. org for assistance.
Previous winners of the Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize include Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, the author of The House of Rust (forthcoming October 202 1) and Noor Naga, the author of If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English (forthcoming April 2022).
A.Igoni Barrett is the author of a story collection, Love Is Power, or Something Like That and a novel, Blackass. Barrett is the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. He lives in Nigeria.
Graywolf Press is an award-winning independent publisher committed to the discovery and energetic publication of contemporary American and international literature. Founded in 1974, the press is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota (www.graywolf.org).