Words Rhymes & Rhythm

Africa39: URGENT CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

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Dear Friends, Writers, publishers and African Literary organisations,

My name is Binyavanga Wainaina. I am the coordinator of the Africa39 Longlist.

I write to you with some urgency. I have recently been contracted to put together a long-list of 120 of most promising fiction authors under the age of 40 from Africa South of the Sahara and diaspora.

This is a huge undertaking and will lead to an announcement of 39 of the most promising African writers under the age of 40 in April 2014. Time is of the essence.

I have to submit this longlist by the 15th of December 2013. I would like to encourage all published fiction writers who qualify to apply.

As many of you may have heard, Port Harcourt City in Rivers State, Nigeria has been conferred the status of UNESCO World Book Capital in 2014. It is the first African city south of the Sahara to be given such status.

The Port Harcourt Book Fair (PHBF) is an initiative of the Governor of Rivers State, Nigeria and is an event for writers, book sellers, literary connoisseurs and all major players in the book industry.

The PHBF in 2014 with Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital City will therefore be a major pan-African and international literary event which will significantly advance the state of literacy, literature, and publishing in Africa.

I am asking you please to distribute this application document to your contacts, mailing lists, writers, media, and other relevant networks and forums.

PLEASE refer all replies & queries ONLY to: africa39project@gmail.com

All updates will be posted on twitter @africa39list and you are advised to check regularly.

Rules for Applicants

By African writer we mean that you are a resident of; or were born in one of the countries listed below. By African writers, we also mean that any writer who has one or more parents from any of these countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Helena, São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Writers from the Diaspora(s) of any one or more of the countries listed above are encouraged to apply.
The author must provide the following essential information on the cover page:

  1. full name, date of birth, country of origin.
  2. contact details: e-mail, telephone number (including country-code), twitter handle.
  3. a 200 word biography.
  4. a short bibliography of your published literary work.
  5. The author must also attach:

The deadline for ALL submissions is midnight (East African Time/GMT+3) Dec 10th, 2013.
ALL applicant submissions should be made VIA EMAIL ONLY TO: africa39project@gmail.com.
All questions should be directed ONLY to this email address: africa39project@gmail.com or on Twitter @africa39list
Please ensure your submissions keep strictly to the guidelines and application criteria we have provided in this document.

Application Criteria

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