Submissions are now open for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing. We highly recommend all African writers apply to this prestigious prize worth £10,000, before the deadline of March 31, 2024.
Founded in 2000, the Caine Prize is one of Africa’s oldest short story prizes, and is awarded to the best short story by an African writer, published in English or translated into English from another language. The winner is awarded a cash prize of £10,000, and four shortlisted writers will receive £500 each.
Several African authors have launched their careers with a Caine Prize win or shortlist, including Laila Lalami, Helon Habila, Binyavanga Wainaina, E.C Osondu, NoViolet Bulawayo, and Meron Hadero. Last year, Senegalese authors Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo jointly won the Caine Prize, the first time a husband and wife writing duo have won since the Prize’s inception.
Submission Guidelines:
- The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline. For 2024 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 1st April 2019 and 25th March 2024.
- Entries must be more than 3,000 words or less than 10,000 words.
- Entries must be submitted by a publisher. This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and arts oriented websites.
- Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
- Self-published and unpublished short stories are not eligible.
- Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author.
- Stories may only be entered for consideration for The Caine Prize for African Writing once. Unfortunately, this means that you may not re-submit a story for consideration, even if it was not selected for the shortlist.
- Genres not eligible for entry include: novels, children’s stories, factual writing, academic essays, plays, poetry, autobiography/biography, and any work that does not constitute a fictional short story.
- Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the short story word count.
- Publishers are required to upload a ‘publisher’s letter’ with each submission, which includes:
- Name of the writer(s).
- Title of the story or stories being submitted.
- Word count of each submitted story.
- The qualifying nationality of the writer(s).
- The date of publication of the story or stories.
- Confirmation of consent from the writer(s) whose stories are being submitted for the Prize.
- Each story must be submitted by the publisher via email ([email protected]) as a PDF attachment or via a link to the story (if it has been published online).
- Please ensure ‘The Caine Prize for African Writing Entry for 2024’ appears in the subject matter of your email.
Go here for more information.
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Submit here.
Good luck to all applicants!
