The submission window for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is now open. Submit your eligible stories via the online portal.

The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual short story award. A short story by an African writer published in English, whether they reside in Africa or elsewhere will get the prize.

The winner will get a cash prize of £10,000, and the other four shortlisted writers will receive £500 each.

Also check: The St. Gallen Symposium: Global Essay Competition

Eligibility

• 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.
• Also, Short stories must be submitted by a publisher. Self-published and unpublished works are not eligible.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 there is a publication of an English translation.
• Stories that have been previously submitted for the Caine Prize are not eligible.
• Moreover, only fictional short stories are eligible for AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.
• Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the word count.
• In addition, Publishers can submit multiple short stories but from different authors.

Application Process

• Only publishers can submit stories via the entry form on the official website.

Publishers should also provide:

• Name of the writer(s).
• Title of the story or stories
• 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) for the prize

Shortlisting and Expectations

• The winner and shortlisted writers will get an invitation to participate in events in Africa, London and anywhere resources and circumstances permit. In these cases, there will be a travel award for each of the shortlisted candidates

• The publisher of shortlisted stories gives non-exclusive, non-commercial permission in perpetuity for the Prize to reproduce the story in the AKO Caine Prize anthology in any format. However, this permission must be with the consent of the author

• When writers consent to submit their work in the award, the shortlisted writers agree to take part in AKO Caine Prize events, including but not limited to in-person and online panel discussions, interviews, readings, podcast recordings as well as the final award ceremony.

The Prize will provide a separate letter detailing the terms and agreements to the shortlisted writers.