Jacana Media has released an open call for submission for their Dinaane Debut Fiction Award. With this award, they focus on debut writers, looking to encourage new writing talent. The media house says that sometimes wonderful, illuminating and challenging fiction doesn’t get published because publishers are more and more constrained by market forces. Fiction is the one genre where the truths about our society are documented in an uncensored manner. Encouraging and publishing the best of burgeoning South African writers is one way of ensuring storytelling remains a way to understand ourselves and one another.
Writers are encouraged to submit should they meet the guidelines below:
- Although the entries must be primarily in English, they welcome innovative writing and the exploration of languages, capturing the multilingual landscape in the continent and the world.
- You may only enter once; all subsequent entries after the first submission will be disqualified.
- Only permanent residents or citizens of South Africa and other southern African countries may apply.
- Authors must not have had a work of fiction (novel or novella) formally published prior to the award. Self-published authors may apply, provided that the work was published only online and no physical copies made. Should the work be shortlisted, such online version must be taken down.
- Entrants’ name should not be included on the manuscript being submitted, as the award is judged blind and the author remains anonymous until the shortlist has been selected.
- An electronic copy of the manuscript, along with a short biography (100 words or less) and author details should be submitted to Jacana Media via the form below. 3 (three) physical copies of the work must be submitted to the Jacana Media Offices, 10 Orange Street, Sunnyside, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2092.
- Incomplete entries will be disqualified.
- Please number your pages; use a font size of 12, Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing (avoid unnecessary formatting such as borders).
- Manuscripts should be a minimum of 40 000 words in length. Short stories do not qualify.
- Intertextuality and references must be appropriately attributed and permissions from copyright holders obtained. This includes poems; song lyrics; quotes and excerpts from books, newspapers, magazines, journals; and reproductions of artwork, photographs or other forms.
- Submissions must have been authored by one person. Co-authored pieces or works of collaboration do not qualify.
- By entering their manuscript, authors agree not to submit their work for publication to any other avenues until the announcement of the shortlist. Any entries which secure a publishing deal before the shortlist has been confirmed will be disqualified.
The Jacana Literary Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, runs literary awards; the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award for best poetry in all languages, the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, and the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology, a collection of exceptional works which explore, interrogate and celebrate the topics of gender, sexuality and human rights.
They are the original publishers of The Caine Prize for African Writing.
Through their publishing and through the Jacana Literary Foundation, they give voice to the unusual, the brilliant, the queer, and the brave.
The winner is awarded R35 000 and a publishing contract from Jacana Media.
Submissions close on 22nd October, 2024.
Best of luck to all those submitting!
Bongiwe T. Maphosa
Bongiwe Maphosa is a budding author with a passion for storytelling. With her thought-provoking narratives, she takes her readers on a literary adventure. Bongiwe's works on the human condition from a fresh perspective have earned her recognition and publications in the Avbob Poetry Anthology of 2019, The Writer's Club of South Africa 2021, and JAY Lit in 2021. She hopes to cement her place in the literary community.
