2018 Brunel University International African Poetry Prize for African Poets

African poets who wish to showcase their writing skills through their published materials but couldn’t do so owing to lack of funds would definitely seize this opportunity to participate in the 2018 Brunel University International African Poetry Prize for African Poets. The Brunel University African Poetry Prize works in partnership with the African Poetry Book Fund to provide a platform for unpublished poets in Africa.

Brunel University International African Poetry Prize is a literary award 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, London, UK, and the African Poetry Book Fund USA. It comes with a £3,000 honorarium. It is aimed at unpublished poets with a manuscript of ten poems.

Brunel University London is a public research university located in Uxbridge, West London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1966, it was named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The Brunel University International African Poetry Prize is a major annual poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. Now in its fourth year, this year the Prize is sponsored by Brunel University and Commonwealth Writers.

British-Nigerian writer, Bernardine Evaristo, who is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London, initiated the award in 2012.

Type: Contest

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be taken at: Online

Eligibility: 

1. The prize is open to African poets, defined as those who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African.
2. The prize is open to African poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published. Self-published poetry books, chapbooks and pamphlets are exempt from this stipulation.
3. Only poems written in English are accepted. Poems translated into English are also accepted with a percentage of the prize going to the translator.
4. The prize opens for submissions from October 1st 2016 to December 1st 2016. Each entrant must submit 10 poems to be eligible, no more and no less.There is no stipulation as to the content of submitted poems but no poem should exceed 40 lines in length.
5. The poems may have been previously published or won previous awards.
6. Under no circumstances can alterations be made to poems once entered.
7. Under no circumstances will the organisers or judges enter into discussions with entrants who have submitted for the prize.
8. The prize organisers reserve the right to not award the prize if, in the judges’ opinion, such an action is justified. 
The organisers also reserve the right to split the prize if they decide that more than one poet is worthy of it.
9. The judges’ decision is final and they will not enter into any correspondence with entrants regarding their decisions.

Number of Awardees: 10

How to Apply: All entries must be submitted via email only to [email protected]*.
An acknowledgement will be sent. (Please note that email enquiries about the rules will not be answered.)

It is important to read the Rules and requirements before applying

Visit Contest Webpage for details

Award Provider: Brunel University and Commonwealth Writers.

Application Deadline: 1st December, 2017

Offered annually