Jaachi Writes

Love is undoubtedly humankind's most exploited subject matter. And yet every year, all year round, the reproduction of "love" in art, literature, music, and a diverse array of many other fields, continues as if the subject, after all this time, has yet to be exhausted.  This month, the traditional celebration of Saint Valentine's Day guarantees that the subject be brought to the foreground and be taken up yet again. As people gather in couples and whisper worn-out phrases to each other in their attempts to make the sincere, albeit recycled, words meaningful and different, one begins to wonder whether we have lost the essence of loving amidst all its typical expressions and its usual commercialized trappings (roses, chocolates, cards, etc.). In this light, Poemify Publishers is putting together a love-themed anthology. Founded by its editor Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu, Poemify Publishers is dedicated to publishing works by African writers as well as curating anthologies ...

After receiving complaints from poets that the time frame given for the submission is insufficient, we have decided to extend the deadline for submission till September 14, 2018. In other words, you have 16 days to write and submit. For Anthology guidelines,  Click Here To submit your entry, Click Here for Submission Form Have you read the Pun Poetry Anthology?  Pun Poetry Anthology is a collection of poems that passed the final stages of the Pun Poetry Contest organised by ACEworld Publishers and Poemify Publishers.  Pun Poetry Anthology Book Title: Pun Poetry Anthology Published: August, 2018 Publisher: Poemify Publishers Format: eBook (pdf) Size: 1.2 MB Enjoyed reading? Commenting is now easy.  I introduced Facebook Comment feature. Please help my blog grow by leaving a comment and sharing with friends. Thank you!

The poet finds himself on this side of heaven called Africa and deeply falls in love with her. He embraces society with its ills and believes in the power of his ink to administer a panacea. Among all the different dimensions of pain that provokes his muse to action is the African child who is; Unloved, uncared for. Dying and turning into a wild beast. A beast now hunted down, sadly. Starved and denied of the necessities of life being subjected to hardship. Deprived of quality education Left with no cultural heritage, left with half-baked legends and tales of ancient times in history books etc AfriChant is an attempt to bring hope and teach society responsibility. AfriChant is an anthology driven with the spirit of Africa and the sorrows of the African child seeking explanation for all the wars going in and around him.  Poetry is the selected genre of literature employed to address this menace staring too long into our faces. Contemporary poets in Nigeria are hereby summoned to sh...

Do you know with just ONE poem (6-10 lines), you can be #10,000 richer? See this: Anarchi – preserving the individual freedom! Anarchi is a celebration of breakdown of social inhibition and restrictive values imposed on the individual will and freedom to live as one chooses. It is an attack on mores established to keep society from self-destruction.  The poet is expected to demonstrate why social mores are destructive to the individual will, and why free will should mean the freedom to do as willed without any moral, religious, artistic, legal or communal repercussion.  Competition expectations: 1. The poem strictly must be between 6 and 10 lines. 2. Each line must make a complete sense 3. The poem must show how anarchy is preferred to social order and values 4. The form of the poem must symbolize a break from traditional styles 5. The language must be as chaotic as the content of the poem – profanity is expected. 6. Themes to disrupt include: Identity, Sexuality, Gender, R...

UPCOMING SHORT STORY CONTESTS  The Moth International Short Prize Story is open to previously unpublished works of fiction up to 5000 words. The winner will receive €3000 and prizes for second and third place are also offered. Entries close on 30 June. Brighton Prize is a short fiction contest open to writers worldwide. Entries must be between 1000 and 2000 words, with the winner to receive £1000 (US$1350). There are also two runners-up prizes and all winning and placed stories will be published in an anthology. Entries close on 1 July. Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition is an annual short story competition open to writers from around the world. First prize is €2000 (US$2100), publication in the literary journal Southword, and a week-long residency at Anam Cara Writer’s and Artist’s Retreat. Entries close on 31 July. Key West Literary Seminar  is accepting applications from US-based writers for three Emerging Writer Awards (for poetry, a novel-in-progress, an...

Deadlines and details do sometimes change. Please don’t forget to check the relevant websites for all the latest details.  Visit the websites by clicking on the subheadings. Puritan: Frontiers of New English An online, quarterly publication based in Toronto. It publishes new fiction, poetry, interviews, essays and reviews by both Canadian and international writers. Submissions received before 25 June will be considered for the summer issue. Cha: An Asian Literary Journal A Hong Kong-based journal dedicated to publishing quality poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, drama, and reviews written in English, as well as photography and art. It has a strong focus on Asian-themed creative work or work done by Asian writers and artists. Submissions for Cha’s ‘Writing Singapore’ issue are open until 30 June. SAND An English-language literary journal published twice annually in Berlin. It features prose and poetry, translations, art and photography. Submissions reopen on 11 May and clo...

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: THIS IS NIGERIA ANTHOLOGY The fact is, writing, deserves much more accolade than it receives. But this is not the time to place blames. This is the moment when we need to echo our voices together into a thunderstorm and break the world into syllables where stronger, healthier and better words can be coined. And this is what we're doing. Right here! Right now! 'This is Nigeria' is our own way of telling the world we're not blind even when our voices seem subdued. Our portrait of showing the corrupt leaders, though we are down, we are not out. This is our chance of ringing it to their ears that we're are not part of the ruin profess, we clamour for a reverse engineering, where all things fall into place, so that one day, we would sit back into our couch & tell our children how we fought in making the world they live in a better place. Nigeria is our own world. The anthology welcomes Poetry, Prose, Photography, Essay and Artwork._ We welcome y...

OVH Energy , leading downstream oil and gas company, has announced the commencement of its creative writing competition in commemoration of the World Creativity and Innovation week which took place from April 15-21, 2018. This competition is the 2nd edition of the company’s Prodigy series titled “So You Think You Can Write” .  The Prodigy Series is an intellectually stimulating creative writing competition designed to support and encourage the art of creative writing in Nigeria, whilst proffering pragmatic solutions to business issues. This initiative was conceived in line with the United Nations 2030 sustainable development agenda and is open to Nigerians between the ages of 20-35 years.  OVH Energy CEO, Huub Stokman, commenting on the prodigy series initiative said:  ‘OVH Energy conceived this idea to encourage Nigerian youths to effectively free up and deploy their creative energies as thought catalysts in suggesting practical yet differentiated business solutions t...

ACEworld Online Magazine  is currently receiving entries from poets all across the globe. The goal of the contest is to appreciate the artistic brilliance of who can best interpret that movie, Black Panther. It remains a notable fact that one of the problems Africans have ever had is the inability to create forward looking ideologies. We always think of the past. The crops of politicians today have no ambition to change the continent. Just their pockets and cliques. This is why the movie has and will always be a very first and great feat at rewriting the history of Africa. Black Panther is a stern rebuke of history. Eligibility: 1. Poet must be either born or a resident of Africa. 2. Must have watched the movie, Black Panther. Guidelines: 1. Poem must not be less than 10 lines and more than 21 lines. That is, poem should be between 10 to 21 lines. 2. Send your entry to  submission@myacewor­ld.net  strictly writing the subject in this format  (your name_Wakanda: Rewri...

#BABISHAI2018 POETRY COMPETITIONS Guidelines Open to ALL African poets who will not have published a full length poetry collection by July 2018. Send 5 original unpublished poems in English using the online portal on the website. We will not accept email submissions; only those sent from the website portal. Follow this link http://babishainiwe.com/submissions/   Previous online publications will not be considered. Poems must be single-spaced, between 10 and 40 lines each and sent as Word Attachments. DO NOT include your name on the poem itself. Submissions will be accepted from 26 February to 26 May, 2018. The longlisted poets will be announced in June. The shortlisted poets will be announced in July. Winners will be announced during the #Babishai2018 poetry festival, 3-6 August in Kapchorwa, Mbale, Eastern Uganda. Any form of plagiarism will lead to immediate disqualification. The winner will receive 700USD and publication of a poetry chapbook. Note: ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE SENT...

Love is undoubtedly humankind's most exploited subject matter. And yet every year, all year round, the reproduction of "love" in art, literature, music, and a diverse array of many other fields, continues as if the subject, after all this time, has yet to be exhausted.  This month, the traditional celebration of Saint Valentine's Day guarantees that the subject be brought to the foreground and be taken up yet again. As people gather in couples and whisper worn-out phrases to each other in their attempts to make the sincere, albeit recycled, words meaningful and different, one begins to wonder whether we have lost the essence of loving amidst all its typical expressions and its usual commercialized trappings (roses, chocolates, cards, etc.). In this light, PROSE & POETRY HOOD is putting together a Valentine/love-themed anthology. Founded by its editor Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu, PROSE & POETRY HOOD is dedicated to publishing works by African writers as well as ...

The  2018 Bristol Short Story Prize  is open for entries. The  competition is open to all writers around the world whether published or unpublished, UK or non-UK based. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 11. The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony which will be held in Bristol Central Library on October 13th 2018. 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £700, 3rd prize is £400. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. All shortlisted writers will receive 2 free copies of the anthology. Prizes will be sent to any writer on the shortlist who is unable to attend the awards ceremony. The judging panel will be chaired by literary agent, Kate Johnson . Kate is joined on the panel by editor, Lucy Cowie , and writers Roshi Fernando and Polly Ho-Yen . Deadline: The closing date for entries is midnight (BST) May 1st 2018. The maxim...

Writers Space Africa, an international literary magazine which features rich diversity of writings from African writers to a global audience, is calling for submissions for the February Edition. The theme of the edition is LOVE . Guidelines : Send your creative piece while considering the following :  1. Articles/Essays: 1,200 words. 2. Drama: 1,000 words. 3. Flash Fiction: 100 words. 4. Poetry: 1 Poem, maximum of 18 lines. 5. Short Stories: 750 words. Visit www.writersspace.net/submission to upload and read the terms. Deadline : January 15, 2018 For news of more opportunities from around the world, follow Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu on: Twitter:  @stefnsylvester Instagram:   @stefnsylvester Facebook Page:  Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu

Introduction :  There has been a growing concern among young creatives in Africa regarding lack of recognition of their poetic creativity by the older generation of poets and writers. While this concern is genuine, there is also a concern among older generations regarding the quality of poetic works coming from a generation of writers whose schooling has been attributed to the proliferation of social media writing. There is a gap between the class of Soyinka, Achebe, Clark, etc. and the current generation. Interestingly too, even among contemporary writers, there are divergent opinions on what constitutes modern or contemporary African poetry. While there are no distinct ideological schools, it is pertinent to say that there are distinct styles of poetry that are attracting international recognition among African young creatives. It is difficult to define poetry based on forms or themes. Each poetic movement has always been a response to society, literary expectations or the role o...

"I wanted the story to be true" said Achebe about Things Fall Apart , "How would you describe fiction as true?" the interviewer asked him. It's our belief as fiction writers that there is a way fiction is told, that the writers are not just trying to make up stories and fables that have no relevance or appropriateness in the life of those they represent. Achebe's things fall apart was the closest Nigeria and indeed Africans had to tell their own stories after decades and centuries of 'tellings' done by people who had no need to protect or preserve the humanity of Africans. Incomplete tales of the white religion; the death of African faith and culture. This year 30 writers will author an anthology compiled by  Damilola Jonathan Oladeji .   "Quills from Africa 30" is a bold statement about my belief in One Africa. The authors are Nigerians but we are also Africans. We will make Africa listen, then the world will listen. This is not just ab...

The Sun is a reader-supported ad-free magazine. They’ve been described in many ways: celebratory, fierce, unflinching, thoughtful, truthful, dark, darkly funny, tender.  Types Of Submissions: Writing:  Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize and been selected for the Best American Essays and Best American Short Storiesanthologies. They publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. The Sun tend to favor personal writing, but are also looking for provocative pieces on political and cultural issues. No racial bias. They encourage submissions from writers of color. The Sun rarely run anything longer than seven thousand words; there’s no minimum length. But they  discourage simultaneous submissions. Writing is a solitary act, but when what you’ve written goes out to our loyal subscribers, it can feel a little less so. Interview pitches:  The Sun publishes interviews with innovative and provocative thinkers. They like interviews that stretch them intellectually yet rema...