Following the success of its first two installments, the AfroAnthology Series is inviting African writers to participate in, and contribute to, their third collection of creative nonfiction in partnership with Literandra.
For those who may not know, pieces from the first AfroAnthology collection Selves (2018) have either won or been shortlisted for major creative nonfiction prizes across Africa, and are continuously being discussed at prestigious literary festivals. The Weight of Years, published in 2020, also has timeless pieces from notable contributors like Frances Ogamba, winner of the 2019 Writivism Prize for Creative Nonfiction; Pwangulongii Daoud, Gerald Kraak Award winner and also pieces from Ukamaka Olisakwe, B. P. Modirwa, and the Eritrean writer Saba Sebhatu.
WHAT WE HOPE TO RECEIVE AS SUBMISSIONS:
We are interested in stories that move the soul for its attention to style. We love stories with impeccable sentences. Before you submit an entry for consideration, you may like to read the piece that won the 2018 Brittle Paper Award for Creative Nonfiction and Megan Ross’s ‘Monstrous’, which was shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award 2019 — both of which were first published in the Selves Anthology. We also highly recommend that you read the pieces in The Weight of Years so as to understand what we are looking to receive from potential contributors.
AfroAnthology Series requests that you submit creative nonfiction that is tender yet powerful and astounding. Please avoid all the conventional tropes of writing creative nonfiction or essays. We want to read short nonfiction that subverts or pushes the boundaries of literary style, short nonfiction that tackles the complexity of the self and the human condition.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please read the following guidelines in their entirety.
- We only accept electronic submissions either via Literandra’s submissions page or via email at afroanthologyseries@gmail.com.
- If submitting via email, your header should read ‘Submission to AfroAnthology Series’
- The submission word count should be between 2,000 to 15,000.
- Only Africans are eligible to submit.
- There will be no remuneration
- Multiple or simultaneous submissions will not be read, accepted, or acknowledged.
- Accompany your submission with a cover letter and short bio of not more than 200 words.
- We are only interested in original personal creative nonfiction.
- Submission opens on June 1st, 2021.
- Submission closes on August 30th, 2021.
For additional style guidelines, please refer to Literandra’s in-house style guide. Do not send works that do not fall under the category of creative nonfiction (fiction, poetry, and academic essays are not welcome). Do not send works that intend to persuade the audience, impress, proselytise or review book(s). AfroAnthology Series is only interested in creative nonfiction that is capable of moving its readers in much the same way that great fictional works can. We want to be lost in your stories. We want to receive submissions that defy conventions, do something new, and creating new universes. So, don’t be afraid to break the mould.
This anthology will be published on December 26th, 2021 on Literandra.
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AfroAnthology Series: An independent platform and literary space that is solely dedicated to curating and promoting powerful personal works of creative nonfiction by African writers.
Literandra Asbl: A Luxembourg-based digital platform that celebrates and showcases literary art forms that emanate from the African continent.
For further inquiries or statements, please contact us via the following email addresses: afroanthologyseries@gmail.com, contact@literandra.com
