AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for Course

Eligibility Criteria

• The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline. For 2022 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published after 31st January 2017

• Stories less than 3,000 words or exceeding 10,000 words are not eligible for the Prize. 

• Short stories must be submitted by a publisher - including publishers of physical and digital literary journals or magazines. Self-published and unpublished works are not eligible.

• Publishers must obtain consent from the writer(s) before submitting their stories for the Prize.

• Stories submitted for the Prize must have been published in English. Translated stories are eligible, provided that an English translation has been published.

• Stories that have been previously submitted for the Caine Prize are not eligible.

• Genres not eligible for entry include stories for children, factual writing, plays and autobiography/biography.

• Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the word count.

• Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author. 

Offered Benefits

• The winner is awarded a cash prize of £10,000, and the other four shortlisted writers will receive £500 each.
• Opportunity to participate in the Prize's various programmes
• Opportunity to participate in interviews, panel discussions and readings with a global audience

Application Process

Go to Caine Prize for African Writing on zealous.co to apply

Required Documents:

Publishers are required to provide:  

• Name of the writer(s).

• Title of the story or stories being submitted.

• Word count of each 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.