Submissions are now open to the poetry anthology Africa Migration Report: an Anthology of Poems, organized by Forced Migration and The Arts in collaboration with indie publisher CivicLeicester and migrant collective Regularise. The theme is African migration and the deadline is May 25.

Forced Migration and The Arts is a global network that brings together people with lived experience of forced migration, refugee and non-refugee artists, academics and activists from around the world. The provisional title of the anthology, Africa Migration Report: an Anthology of Poems, is inspired by the second edition of the Africa Migration Report published by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

People on the African continent have a long history of experience with migration, whether this includes individuals or communities moving from one place to another in search of pasture for their livestock or in search of prospects such as education, employment, escape from climate change, refuge from war, conflict, persecution, etc. These movements have been taking place over time and within and across countries, on the continent and beyond, and are driven by many reasons.

Many of the people who have made these journeys have had certain experiences and encounters before deciding to move, while on the move, and when they arrive at their destinations. Families and communities also have stories about relatives, friends and community members who moved and then returned or did not return.

The Africa Migration Report: an Anthology of Poems is inviting poems exploring these themes and related ones. Poems that explore the personal, familial, communal, national, continental, intercontinental, transnational, past, present and possible futures of African migration across time and space, in and around this world and beyond, are welcome.

See more details about the call for submissions here.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Poems should be 40 lines or less, and short fiction,100 words or less.
  • The poems and short fiction should be on the theme, African migration.
  • Submissions must be in English. In the case of translated work, it is the translator’s responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder of the original work.
  • If submitting a poem or short fiction which has been previously published, please give details of where it has appeared and confirm that you are the copyright holder.
  • Ideally submissions will be typed single-spaced and submitted either in the body of an email or as a .doc attachment.
  • Please include a short biography of 50 words or less. This will be included in the anthology if your poem is accepted.
  • You may submit a maximum of three poems or three pieces of short fiction or a combination of poems and short fiction. You do not have to submit all three at the same time, but the editors can only consider a maximum of three submissions.
  • Submissions are welcome from writers of all ages, based anywhere in the world.

Submit poems to [email protected].

Deadline: May 25, 2024, 12 PM

Good luck to all applicants!