Afritondo Short Story Prize Africa 2025 ($1,000 prize) Deadline: 23 December, 2024

Applications are open for the Afritondo Short Story Prize Africa 2025. The Afritondo seeks stories that offer creative interpretations of the theme. They like stories that surprise them, that take risks with imagination and language. A good story for their prize will offer unique insight into the theme and explore characters in refreshing and imaginative ways.

This year, they want writers to respond to the theme of “masks”: spiritual, psychological, social, and cultural coverings that people wear.

In some African cultures, masks are worn only by a particular group of people. Around the world, though, everyday people wear them. Who wears masks, and how are they used to organise and make sense of social life? What psychological and cultural benefits/pitfalls are associated with mask-wearing? What types of masks do people wear? Why do people wear masks? And how do masks bridge the gap between the known and the unknown, the visible and the invisible, the ordinary and the supernatural?

Prizes

• Grand Prize: The winning entry will receive $1,000 USD.
• Shortlisted Entries: The four other stories that make it to the shortlist will receive $100 USD each.
• Longlisted Entries: Every story on the longlist will be published in an anthology, and writers will receive a free copy.

Eligibility

• You are a citizen or national of an African country.
• One of your parents is a national of an African country.
• You are of black ethnicity or belong to a black minority population anywhere in the world.

Application

• Submissions must be made within the stated deadline. Any submission after the deadline will be disregarded.
• Submissions must be in English.
• Submissions must reflect the theme.
• Only one submission per writer is allowed.
• The submission, including the title, must be between 3000 and 5000 words.
• The submission should be in Microsoft Word (doc, docx) and in the following format:
  • Double-spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri font, 12-point size.
  • The title of the story should appear at the top of the first page, followed by the word count. No further information is required.
  • Every page must be numbered.
• The author’s name or detail must not be included anywhere on the document to be uploaded. The document must contain only the title, word count, and story. All entries are judged anonymously.

Submission is accepted only via email. Entries should be sent to submissions@afritondo.com. The subject of the submission should read: Submission for Afritondo Short Story Prize 2025. The filename of the entry (i.e. the attached document) must be the title of the short story. In the body of the form, tell them briefly about yourself, including such information as your legal name, country of residence, age (optional), and contact details.

For more information, see guidelines and visit Afritondo Short Story Prize Africa.