Goethe-Institut is on a search to identify the best new talents in African Young Adult literature. This is welcome news. The CODE Burt Award for Young Adult African Literature, awarded last week to Kenya’s Kinyanjui Konbani, is carving out a space for the genre. Last week also, Nigerian Tomi Adeyemi’s YA fantasy debut Children of Blood and Bone clocked 25 straight weeks on The New York Times Young Adult Fiction Bestseller List—proof that the genre holds promise for writers from the continent. Goethe-Institut’s project, “Goethe-Institut Presents #AFROYOUNGADULT: A Talent-Search for Young Adult Fiction from Africa,” is curated by Zukiswa Wanner, award-winning South African novelist and co-founder of La Shamba.

Here is the press release.

Goethe-Institut Presents #AFROYOUNGADULT: A Talent-Search for Young Adult Fiction from Africa

The Goethe-Institut invites aspiring African writers of all ages interested in writing for Young Adults (YA) to submit short stories of 3000-5000 words in length in Kiswahili, English or French. A panel of curators will then select the best texts and invite the writers to participate in workshops across the continent that will take place in February 2019. The top stories from these workshops will be published in an anthology that will be available in Kiswahili, English and French and launched at Ake Festival 2019.

How to Apply:

Send your short story to [email protected] with a short biography and your preferred city for the workshop (please see below for options).

Important Dates:

Submission: 1 SEPTEMBER – 30 NOVEMBER, 2018

Announcement of selection: 3 JANUARY, 2019

Workshops: 11-15 FEBRUARY 2019

(It is therefore important that submissions come from writers who will be in Africa and can travel to their chosen city during the week of the workshop.)

Workshops will take place in the following languages in the following cities:

KISWAHILI: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

FRENCH: Lome, Togo; Dakar, Senegal.

ENGLISH: Accra, Ghana; Kigali, Rwanda; Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya; Johannesburg, South Africa.

For enquiries, email [email protected].