The Afritondo Short Story Prize is currently accepting submissions for its fourth edition.

The prize, which was first awarded in 2020, confers a cash reward of $1,000 to an unpublished work of fiction (between 3,000 and 5,000 words) by an African/Black writer. Four finalists receive $100 each.

Previous winners have included South Africa’s Jared Thompson for “A Good Help is Hard to Find” (2020), Ethiopia’s Desta Haile for her story “Ethio-Cubano” (2021), and Cameroon’s Howard Meh-Buh for “Grotto” (2022). Previous finalists for the prize have also gone on to do marvelous things, such as Joshua Chizoma, who went on to be shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing for his Afritondo Prize-shortlisted story “Collector of Memories.”

The 2022 prize is themed Aliens. From the organizers’ description:

This year, we want writers to respond to the theme of “aliens”: unfamiliar things, unfamiliar people, how they are received and lived with or rejected, how they change families, communities, societies.

We are looking for stories that surprise us, that take risks with imagination and language. Feel free to give the theme your own personal interpretation. A good story for our prize will offer unique insight into the theme and explore characters in refreshing and imaginative ways.

The prize will be judged by Ugandan author Doreen Baingana, Ghanaian author Ayesha Harruna Attah, and Zambian-Ghanaian writer and editor Efemia Chela. Read about the judges here.

Submission Guidelines:

You may only submit an entry if you meet any of the following eligibility requirements:

  1. You are a citizen or national of an African country;
  2. One of your parents is a national of an African country;

iii. You identify as Black or African or belong to an African or Black minority population anywhere in the world.

For any questions on eligibility, please send an email to [email protected].

  1. Submissions must be made before the stated deadline. Any submission after the deadline will be disregarded.
  2. Submissions must be in English.
  3. Submissions must reflect the theme.
  4. Only one submission per writer is allowed.

Read the full guidelines here.

Deadline: December 16, 2022