The Caine Prize is widely regarded as the biggest short story prize for African writing. Established in 2000, it is awarded to the best short story by an African writer published in English or translated into English from another language. The winner receives a monetary reward of £10,000, while four nominated writers earn £500 apiece.
The Caine Prize boasts a very rich list of nominated writers and winners, some of whom have gone on to become internationally successful writers. Some notable names include Leila Aboulela, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Helon Habila, Namwali Serpell, Binyavanga Wainaina, E.C Osondu, NoViolet Bulawayo, Meron Hadero, and Lesley Nneka Arimah. Last year, Senegalese writers Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo shared the win, the first time a writing duo would be named as winners since the Prize’s establishment.
The Prize is now accepting submissions for 2024 and will be open until March 31, 2024.
Submission is free but can only be done by publishers, not writers. For writers who have had a story published, if you haven’t submitted it yet and would like to do so, it’s important to reach out to your publisher right away.
Submission guidelines are as follows:
- The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submission deadline. For 2024 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 1st April 2019 and 25th March 2024.
- Entries must be a minimum of 3,000 words or a maximum of 10,000 words.
- Entries must be submitted by a publisher. This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and arts-oriented websites.
- Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
- Self-published and unpublished short stories are ineligible.
- Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author.
- Stories may only be entered for consideration for The Caine Prize for African Writing once. Unfortunately, this means that you may not re-submit a story for consideration, even if it was not selected for the shortlist.
- Genres not eligible for entry include novels, children’s stories, factual writing, academic essays, plays, poetry, autobiography/biography, and any work that does not constitute a fictional short story.
- Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the short story’s word count.
- Publishers are required to upload a ‘publisher’s letter’ with each submission, which includes:
- Name of the writer(s).
- Title of the story or stories being submitted.
- Word count of each submitted 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.
- Each story must be submitted by the publisher via email (submissions@caineprize.com) as a PDF attachment or via a link to the story (if it has been published online).
- Please ensure ‘The Caine Prize for African Writing Entry for 2024’ appears in the subject matter of your email. Please ensure ‘The Caine Prize for African Writing Entry for 2024’ appears in the subject matter of your email.
For more information, click here.
Best of luck to all submitters!
