We are excited to announce the 8th edition of the African Writers Awards. For this edition, we are accepting submissions for poetry and short stories. The winner of each of the genres will receive $250. This is sponsored by Anthony ‘Penboss’ Onugba.
Please take note of the following:
You are to choose ONLY ONE genre. Submissions in both genres will be disqualified.
The theme for this year’s award is: African Pride: A Cultural Narrative
Poetry length: 14 lines MINIMUM
Stories must be between 3,000 and 5,000 words
Submissions are open from April 1 to July 1, 2025.
Entries must not have been previously published anywhere, including personal blogs.
We do not accept submissions generated by AI.
Previous winners in any of the award categories are ineligible to submit.
Meet the judges
Short Story Judges
Patrick Nzabonimpa (Tom) is a Rwandan writer, poet, and journalist. He began writing short stories in 2018 while still in college and has since honed his craft. In 2022, he assumed the role of editor for the same genre at Writers Space Africa (WSA) through its monthly literary magazine and has facilitated various courses on short story writing within the organization.
Patrick’s short stories “Men Never Get Satisfied” and “You See Mama” were published in Brittle Paper and Beans without Korkor and Other Stories anthology, respectively. More of his literary works were published in WSA Magazine, Africa In Dialogue, Twaweza anthology, Voices of Space: An Almanac, as well as Threads and Faces: Stories on Identity and Belonging anthology, among other places.
Patrick’s debut short story collection, A Thread of Silent Echoes, will be published by Vine Leaves Press (Greece) in April 2026. He is also a Pen Pen African Writers Residency alumni and one of the recipients of the 2020 Empower Africa Now award in the short story category. He loves tea.
Blessing Amatemeso is an award-winning writer and editor. Her works have been featured in magazines such as Syringe magazine, Touch, and Writers Space Africa magazine, where she currently serves as the creative non-fiction editor.
Blessing was the first runner-up for the Wakini-kuria prize for children’s literature in the year 2022 for her story, “Siki and the Bicycle.”
Outside of her creative pursuits, Blessing holds an MBBCh. Although an aspiring emergency medicine physician, she loves a good story and indulges in the pleasure of reading and watching them.
Elizabeth Dwamena-Asare is a Ghanaian creative artist. She won the Africa Writers Award (short story) in 2024 and made the shortlist for the prestigious Wakini Kuria Prize in 2023. She has authored two books, “Who Cares?” and “A Woman’s Valley,” available on Booknook Store and Amazon. Her short story, ‘The New Normal,’ was included in the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) anthology of short stories. She was named the author/writer of the year at the Central Entertainment and Business Awards in 2022, and her piece ‘We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ won the 2022 Africa Matters Media Contest. She graced a reading session at e-Ananse dubbed ‘Durbar and Cultural Celebration.’ Various literary journals, including The Kalahari Review and Writers Space Africa Magazine, have published her works. Elizabeth loves creative collaborations, volunteering, watching comedies, and learning DIYs on Pinterest and YouTube.
Poetry Judges
Comfort Nyati is a Zimbabwean who belongs to the Salesians of Don Bosco. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Education and a Master’s Degree in philosophy. In his MA thesis, he has taken a philosophical enterprise centred on the Hermeneutics of Language. He is currently studying theology in Rome-Italy. He enjoys reading and writing philosophical articles and poems in his leisure time. His literary works have featured in several platforms and books, including the Writes space Africa magazine, Kiliviews, Heart Links and World on the Brinks-a poetry anthology. Meanwhile, he has authored a poetry Anthology in 2021 titled Seasonal Piety. To date, his dream remains to serve whe(n)re necessity calls.
Email: nyaticuea@gmail.com
Omadang Yowasi is a Ugandan poet and author of WAR ULCERS, a collection of contemporary poems. He is the longest-serving poetry editor for the WSA magazine.
When he’s not writing poems, he’s policing.
Marial Awendit a.k.a. James Marial Matueny Majak, is a South Sudanese poet, essayist, and songwriter. He is published in various literary magazines and anthologies. He is the author of the chapbook poetry collection The Night Does Not Drown Us, published in 2022 by Babishai-Niwe Poetry Foundation, Keeping the Sun Secret, a poetry collection published in 2021 by Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd, Whispers over a Brewing Dawn, published in 2022 by Carnelian Heart Publishing Ltd, The Nilotic Coddiwomple, published in 2024 by Acacia Publishers Ltd and Who Told You to Be God? published in 2024 by Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd. Marial won the South Sudan Youth Talent Award (2016) for the category of Best Poet, the Babishai-Niwe Poetry Award for African poets (2018), and the African Writers Award for Poetry (2023)
