Submissions are invited for the December 2019 Chipukizi Writers Award (formerly Writers Guild Kenya short story Competition) for short stories. Prize money for this bi-monthly competition, administered and co-ordinated by the Writers Guild Kenya, is provided by the UK-based company, Reagan Publishing, the owner of the website https://yours2read.com through which all submissions are to be made. The last edition of this competition will run between November and December, 2019.
Submission Requirements
- Stories must be fiction and must not have been previously published.
- Stories must be written in English, typed in Times New Roman Font 12 and spaced at 1.5. Pages must be numbered, and uploaded into the website at https://yours2read.com in PDF format. Authors retain full copyright and are free to withdraw their stories at any time before or after the competition closes.
- Stories must be original, and must not be plagiarized from other sources. By submitting work an author warrants that he or she owns the copyright
- Stories should not be above 4,500 words or below 1000 words.
- Writers can submit a maximum of three entries
- Writers should include a Bio of not more than 100 words in their profile page in the website.
- Entries must not infringe any identifiable trademark or trade name.
- Entries must not contain or describe any obscene, vulgar, offensive, profane, provocative or otherwise inappropriate content.
- By submitting a story, all entrants thereby grant the right for their work to be published on the yours2read.com website.
- Any story that is determined by Writers Guild Kenya (WGK) in its sole discretion at any time during the Entry Period to violate the Submission Requirements or to be unsuitable or offensive or in a poor taste, may be rejected.
Writers Guild Kenya retains sole discretion as to whether any story satisfies the submission requirements and its decisions are final.
Stories will be evaluated by a panel of editors comprising two members of the Board of the Writers Guild Kenya and one from the UK owner of the www.yours2read.com website.
NB: 1. Submission is limited to writers and aspiring writers in Kenya.
- You may leave your stories in the www.yours2read.com website after the competition closes, but they will not be re-entered into the following month’s competition. They will not be copied or distributed, or republished in any other medium, by the website owners.
For any questions: email: write@writersguild.co.ke or June Mukhwana on +254 751562750
Submissions made between 1st November, 2019 and 1st December, 2019 will be automatically entered into the competition. Three awards will be announced on 6th December, 2019 and authors duly notified. Winners also agree to their names being displayed on the website. The awards will be USD190, USD 17 and USD 15 for the first three positions. Although authors from other countries already post stories on the www.yours2read.com website, only Kenyan authors are eligible for the competition, and prize money will be restricted to Kenyan authors. The decision of the Panel is final. The Panel reserves the right to make no award should the quality of stories submitted not be of the required standard.
What are we looking for in stories?
We recognize that writing in the short story genre is not easy. However, here’s a list of factors we’ll take into account when reaching our decision:
- Stories should develop the central character or characters in an interesting, concise way.
- They should have a sense of context. These will be read by readers both inside and outside Kenya, particularly in the UK; for this reason references to the environment, sounds, scenes, nature, employment, and lifestyle which reflect life in Kenya will be of particular interest to this audience.
- They should not be simply descriptive; there has to be one or several central themes which are developed throughout the story, and are drawn together in a satisfying conclusion.
- Stories with a ‘twist in the tale’, or unexpected ending, are particularly welcome.
- They should be grammatically correct, without spelling errors.
- We welcome stories with a historical setting, thrillers, crime, romance, fantasy, general fiction: we are open-minded, with eclectic tastes!
N/B: This award is meant to encourage aspiring writers believe in themselves more
3 thoughts on “Chipukizi Writers Award”
This will be of invaluable support to young writers by far to far. Viva!
Can poetry be submitted?
Its great thing,”motivation ”