Competition Terms & Conditions
Introduction
Sebuleni Africa will hold its first SEBULENI AFRICA PRIZE 2023 writing competition between November 2022 and March 2023, to mark its fifth anniversary. The winners of both Prose and Poetry section will each bag Ksh25,000 [Us$250]. The winning and all shortlisted entries received will be published in the new category to be known as HALL OF FAME.
Poems and stories that do not make the shortlist but which our judges consider good will also be published in other regular pages of Sebuleni Africa platform.
By participating in the competition you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions. The competition is being run by Sebuleni Africa, and managed by the holding firm, Bliss Oasis Africa.
Eligibility
The competition is open to entrants over 18 years of age from all over African and the diaspora. The author may, or may not be of African origin, but the items entered must have an African theme, i.e, there must be something African in it, either in the characters, or in setting.
Sebuleni Africa and Bliss Oasis Africa employees and associates are excluded from taking part in the competition.
By entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and that you are eligible to receive any prizes that may be awarded to you.
There is no limit of the number of entries but for each extra entry a new entry fee will be required.
There are two categories of entry. You may enter one entry for Ksh200 or US$2, or you may choose to send three entries for Sh500, or US$5.
Entry
There will be two categories. Poetry and Prose [Short story]. Participants can enter either, or both categories. Poetry should be limited to 30 lines, while Prose should be up to 3,000 words.
Entry [submission] fee – Ksh 200 or US$2 for one entry.
– KSh500 or US$5 for entry of up to three articles.
The Prize
The winning prize will be US$250 /Ksh25,000, for either category.
Sebuleni Africa’s decision on any aspect of the competition is final and binding, and no correspondence will be entered into about it.
Deadline
The competition will be open from November 1, 2022 and will close at 6 pm EAT [3 pm GMT] on March 31, 2023.
Winner Announcement
The winners will be announced at an event that will be held in Nairobi in April 2023 as part of Sebuleni Africa anniversary celebrations.
Limitation of Liability
Sebuleni Africa accepts no liability for any damage, loss, injury, or disappointment suffered by any entrants as a result of participating in the competition.
General
Sebuleni Africa reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to cancel the competition or amend these terms and conditions.
Guidelines
No identifying information in the submission document. Our judges read all submissions “blind,” so we do not want your name or any information about you on the actual file that you upload, or email. We want to ensure all submissions are judged solely on content/craft, so we ask that you do not include this information on your uploaded document. It can be listed in your cover letter. See below.
- Unpublished work only.
- We accept simultaneous submissions but please notify us if your work is picked up elsewhere.
- No more than three stories/poems per submission. Multiple submissions are allowed. Any extra set of two will require an extra fee.
- Submission fee per set of one entry Ksh200 or US$2.
- Set of three entries Ksh500 or US$5.
Social media
Work previously published on social media/personal pages and self-published are accepted.
Format
Freestyle – we are not strict on this, but would prefer Times New Roman, and double spaced. However, whatever format be considerate or your reader.
Cover letter
Cover letters give a bit of insight into your publication history (if any), your educational background, a short synopsis of your personal history, and the impetus for your passion for writing. Think of it as a brief author bio and what you would like posted on our site should your work be selected for publication.
Don’t overthink it, we just want to know a little about you! NOTE: this is where you may include personal / identifying information. Please also use this space to include any content warnings about the piece that would help a reader keep themselves safe.
Ownership
You do maintain ownership of your work when you submit to our platform, whether it is chosen or not for publication. If published, our platform retains first publication rights of the work for the first three months.
Still have questions? Email us at sebuleniafrica@gmail.com
Payment can either be made via PayPal id blissoasis48@gmail.com or through MPESA Via Lipa na Mpesa BLISS OASIS AFRICA Till No. 503092.
ABOUT ENTRIES
Please upload your entries here. Make sure you upload your cover letter as well as your entries.
Your cover letter should give a brief introduction [name and bio data] about yourself, and your email address. The bio data should not be more than 100 words. Your cover letter should also give the titles of your entries, how many they are, and the number of words for each prose, and lines for poetry.
Your entries should ONLY have the title/headings, but NOT your name, or even contact address. Your name and email address will only appear in the cover letter. No identifying mark should be on the entries.
Once you have uploaded the cover letter and your entries, proceed to complete the entry fee payment, and once we receive the payment, we shall confirm your official participation.
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Submit your entry here
Make sure you upload the following
1 – Cover letter
2 – Your entry/entries
3 – Pay for your submissions
Paypal – blissoasis48@gmail.com
Mpesa Till no 503092