African Poetry Book Fund
The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will be awarded to an African writer who has not published a book-length poetry collection.
The Brunel University African Poetry Prize

The Brunel University African Poetry Prize

The Brunel University African Poetry Prize will be awarded for a selection of poems by an African poet.

Prizes

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets

The African Poetry Series has been made possible through seed funding from philanthropists, Laura and Robert F. X. Sillerman, whose generous contributions have facilitated the establishment of the African Poetry Book Fund.  Mr. and Mrs. Sillerman have also welcomed the use of their name for the First Book Prize for African Poets.

Prizes

The winner receives USD $1000 and publication through with the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal.

Eligibility

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection. This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.

An “African writer” is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African.

Only poetry written in English is eligible. Translated poetry is accepted but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.

No past or present paid employees of the University of Nebraska Press or Amalion Press, or current faculty, students, or employees at the University of Nebraska, are eligible for the prizes.

When to Send

Manuscripts are accepted annually between September 15 and November 30.

Manuscript

Poetry manuscripts should be at least 50 pages long.

The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript. All entries will be read anonymously. Please include a cover page listing only the title of the manuscript (not the author’s name, address, telephone number, or email address). An acknowledgements page listing the publication history of individual poems may be included, if desired. No application forms are necessary. You may submit more than one manuscript.

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets accepts electronic submissions ONLY. Click here or the button below to submit via Submittable.

Entry Fee

Free

Notification

The winner is announced early January on the African Poetry Book Fund website. Results will be emailed shortly thereafter.

2013 Winner

The winner of the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets for 2013 is Clifton Gachagua for his manuscript Madman at Kilifi. He will receive a USD $1,000 prize and publication by the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal. (Details)

Please send any questions to psbookprize@unl.edu

Submit

Sillerman Prize Submissions

Electronic Submissions via Submittable

 Brunel University African Poetry Prize

Under the auspices of the Fund, one of its key facets will be the establishment of an additional prize for poetry, the Brunel University African Poetry Prize, awarded for a selection of poems by an African poet. The Brunel University African Poetry Prize is a major new poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. The prize is sponsored by Brunel University and partnered by Commonwealth Writers, the Africa Centre UK, and the African Poetry Book Fund USA. British-Nigerian writer, Bernardine Evaristo, has initiated the prize. Prairie Schooner, one of the leading literary journals in the USA, having published continuously for eighty-five years, has committed to publishing some of the work of the winning poets of the Brunel University African Poetry Prize. Wasafiri, the leading British journal of international writing, will also publish the winner. Similar arrangements will be pursued with other major literary journals in the United Kingdom and the US.

In collaboration with the African Poetry Book Fund, the Brunel University African Poetry Prize will develop a series poetry workshops and courses in Africa in its efforts to provide technical support for poets writing in Africa.

There will be a distinguished panel of judges including the poet Kwame Dawes and the academic Mpalive Msiska. There will also be an advisory committee. All to be announced.

Eligibility

The prize is for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. Therefore ten poems exactly have to be submitted in order to be eligible for this prize. These poems may, however, have been published. Only poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published are eligible. (Poets who have self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published are allowed to submit for this prize.)

Only poetry written in English is eligible. Translated poetry is accepted but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.

The prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African.

Submission Period

The prize is now open for entries from 1st September 2012 to 30th November 2012. and the winner will be announced at the end of April 2013.

**See The The Prize Website for Submission Details**

 

Contact.

For more updates and additional information contact Bernardine Evaristo at Bernardine.Evaristo@brunel.ac.uk.