Applications are currently open for the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry, which is an annual award given to ten poems written by African poets. Originally known as the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (BIAPP), the prize was established in 2012 by Bernardine Evaristo, a British writer. Evaristo managed the prize for ten years before it was renamed and entrusted to the African Poetry Book Fund in 2022.
Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2023/2024
The BIAPP aimed to encourage, and nurture their talent and provide a platform for them to gain international recognition. The prize has been highly regarded, as many past winners have gone on to publish chapbooks, and full-length poetry collections, and achieve further recognition within the literary community.
With the transition to the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry, the African Poetry Book Fund, as a close partner of the BIAPP, will continue the legacy of promoting and celebrating the excellence of African poetry. The current call for applications offers aspiring African poets an opportunity to showcase their work and potentially join the ranks of distinguished winners who have made their mark on the global literary stage.
Benefit of Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
- up to $1,500 cash prize will be given to the winner
Eligibility Criteria
- The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry is open to writers who meet the criteria of being African. An “African writer” includes individuals who were born in Africa, are citizens or residents of an African country, or have African parents.
- To be eligible for the prize, poets must not have previously published a full-length poetry book at the time of submission. However, self-published poetry books, chapbooks, and pamphlets are exempt from this requirement.
- Submissions must be written in English, but poems in translation will also be considered. If the winning work is translated, a portion of the prize money will be awarded to the translator.
- Individuals who are currently or have been paid employees of the University of Nebraska Press, Akashic Books, or Amalion Press, as well as current faculty, students, or employees at the University of Nebraska, are not eligible for the prizes.
- African poets who have published a chapbook in the New-Generation African Poets Chapbooks Box Set series can still be considered for the Evaristo African Poetry Prize, provided they have not published a full-length book of poems.
Requirements For the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
- The poems submitted for the prize must be the original work of the entrant and should not exceed 40 lines each.
- Previously published poems or those that have won awards in the past are allowed for submission.
- Individuals who have entered the prize before are welcome to re-submit, but it is recommended that they include new poems.
- While there are no specific formatting rules, it is suggested to send the manuscript in either Times New Roman or Arial font, size 12, and single-spaced. It is preferred to have one poem per page, ensuring that a new poem starts on a separate page rather than continuing from the previous one. The entire submission should be written in black ink, without any colored elements.
How To Apply For Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
- Annually, between October 1st and November 1st, submissions of manuscripts containing exactly 10 poems will be accepted through Submittable.
- To ensure proper tracking of submissions, it is advised not to send the submission via email as they are unable to handle and track email submissions. Any manuscripts received through email will not be considered.
For additional details and further information, please refer to the official website.
Application Deadline
November 1, 2023.
