As our friends over at SynCity NG celebrate their paper anniversary since making the bold entry into the African literary scene, a nice compilation of an e-anthology is a fantastic idea to roll out the drums, yes?

They are currently seeking fiction and memoir submissions for the anthology which will be edited by fantastic editorial manager, Ama Udofa. They want to publish 10 stories that reflect the evolving nature of storytelling from Nigeria today, stories that we want to read, rather than stories we have to read. Stories that we want to identify with, that can be a reference point now and in future. There is no set theme thus giving contributors the freedom to write what they care about. They’d love realism works as well as speculative fiction, especially works that explore identity, the self and human relationships. In all, they and we at The Bagus NG just want to read well-told stories.

Every writer likes to be appreciated for their work of art, and while they cannot offer premium remuneration at this point, they want to at least offer incentives for writers that submit work which is moving. This anniversary competition forms part of the anthology celebration to offer gifts to its top five submissions. The competition will be guest judged by Kenyan and Nigerian authors Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Leye Adenle. Please send us your submissions!

Prizes

First prize: $55 (N20, 000) and a session with our guest judges.

Second prize: $14 (N5,000) and a book gift.

Third prize: Professional editing for one short story of the writer’s choice, and a book gift.

Fourth and fifth prizes: One book each.

Things to Note While Preparing Your Submission

  • They only accept original prose entries. Submit fiction or nonfiction.
  • Works published elsewhere will be not be considered. If you have published the story on your social media or blog, please take it down before submitting. If you are publishing an excerpt from an unpublished book, make sure the story is able to stand alone as an independent story.
  • You can only submit one entry. Multiple entries will lead to disqualification.
  • There is no set theme for this anthology. Whether you’re a marketing executive, biochemistry undergraduate or a full-time writer, if you have a great story to tell, we want to hear it. Send us realism works as well as speculative fiction; send writing that explores identity, the self, and human relationships. In all, though, they just want to read well-told stories.
  • Submission is open to all Africans, both published authors and unpublished.
  • No simultaneous submissions, please.
  • No submission fee.
  • Submit only through their Submissions form. Email submissions will be discarded unread.
  • Entries will be judged blind. Do NOT include your name IN THE DOCUMENT. Place other identifying information in the Submittable form. State the word count on the top right corner of the first page of the document.  Name the document Anniversary Anthology- story title, eg: Anniversary Anthology- Purple Hibiscus. Submit document ONLY in Microsoft Word format. No PDFs.
  • Stories should be between 0 to 3999 words. Use Times New Roman style, font size 12, double line spacing. Deadline for submissions is midnight 28 February 2019. A longlist of 10 writers will be announced in Mid-March, and the anniversary anthology will be released alongside with the winners’ announcement in April.

Furthermore,

They will publish all 10 stories by the longlisted writers in the anniversary anthology. Rights to the published stories remain with the writers. Other worthy stories that do not make the longlist will be published on the blog with permission.

Submit your story here.

For inquiries and questions, email syncityng@gmail.com or DM them on Twitter @syncityng. Follow them on all social media platforms for live updates wherever you are.

 

Start submitting today!