Isele Magazine has launched a set of new literary prizes. The Isele Prizes, in their inaugural year, will reward the best pieces of writing published in the magazine from inception until 2022. It is the second of its kind within the continent in recent history, following in the footsteps of Namibian journal Doek!

The prizes will be awarded in three categories—short stories, poetry and essays. The judges in each category—two each—will announce a longlist of ten stories, ten suites of poems or single poems, and eight essays, in February. In March, a shortlist of five in each category would be revealed. The winners, which would be announced at a ceremony in April, will receive a cash award of $200 each.

The prize would only consider works previously published in the magazine. All the longlisted works will appear in the annual print anthology—The Best of Isele.

Publications for the inaugural 2022 prize have already been considered, however, to submit for the 2023 award, start by making a submission here.

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Well done to Isele!