We are happy to announce that we are now open to receive submissions for our 9th issue. We publish creative writing, poetry, prose (stories and narratives), plays, visual stories such as photo essays, and comic and graphic artwork with a storyline in ANY language used in Africa, such as Swahili, Amharic, Yoruba, Zulu, Chichewa, English, French, etc. Submissions must be by, about, and/or for born-in-Africa youths. For the purposes of the Journal, ‘African’ is defined according to place of birth or heritage. It is not related to colour or race.
We also include artworks by African artists in the Journal to showcase their talent. This can be photography, paintings, sketchwork, graphic art, mixed media, fashion, ceramics, etc. We are interested in a variety of creative expressions, provided they do not promote division, and constitute hate speech, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, other forms of discrimination, or fundamentalism. However, we welcome submissions that deal with these issues in a constructive and honest way.
All submissions must be the original creation of the individual submitting them, and they cannot have been previously published elsewhere. Please note that while the content we publish is mostly by youth aged 15 to 35, we also publish older individuals whose work is made with this age bracket in mind.
Before submitting to us, please go through at least one issue to get a clear idea of what we are looking for, otherwise the submission may not suit JAY Lit. Our previous issues are available here.
Please send only one of each kind of submission per submission period, i.e. poetry or a short story, not both. Specific guidelines for the different artforms we accept are here.
We try to respond to every submission within 2 months, although it might sometimes take longer. If you haven’t heard from us after 2 months, feel free to send a query in the email thread of your submission.
While we do not offer monetary compensation at this time, our peer-reviewers and guest editors will nominate the best pieces they read in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for the JAY Lit Awards at the end of each year. We hope to include other categories in due time. Eventual winners will be determined by our category editors and distinguished guest judges. The awards come with cash prizes as well as other rewards. Also, every shortlistee for the award is a winner of the “JAY Lit Editor’s Choice Commendation”.
Although staff of JAY Lit are eligible for publication in the journal, they are ineligible for the awards.
While we continue to work towards paying all contributors, we take pride in all the creative works we publish and try to be our contributors’ loudest cheerleaders on social media and elsewhere.
All the best to all submitters!
