Caine Prize for African Writing 2024 (Full Travel Scholarship + £10,000 Prize)

The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English.

Application Deadline: 31st March 2024.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African countries

About the Award: The Caine Prize for African Writing is a literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English. The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally. The focus on the short story reflects the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: 

• 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• Self-published and unpublished short stories are not eligible.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. See below for more information:
  • What should the publisher’s letter include? Publishers are required to provide:
    • 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.

Number of Awardees: 5

Value of Contest: Winning and short-listed authors will be invited to participate in writers’ workshops in Africa, London and elsewhere as resources permit. There is a cash prize of £10,000 for the winning author and a travel award for each of the short-listed candidates (up to five in all). The shortlisted candidates will also receive a Prize of £500. The winner is also invited to go to three literature festivals in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

How to Apply:

• Each story must be submitted by the publisher via email (submissions@caineprize.com) 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.

Submissions that do not meet the above criterias will not be eligible for the prize. If you have any questions or query regarding our eligibility criteria, please email: info@caineprize.com we will be happy to assist!

SUBMIT HERE

Visit Contest Webpage for details