The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) and the Other Foundation have decided to reopen submissions for the second annual Gerald Kraak Award.

There was a technical glitch with the online submissions portal. If you have submitted but haven’t heard back, please resubmit. The prize organisers will also be accepting new entries during this open submissions period until 13 October 2017

Created in honour of the late activist Gerald Kraak’s extraordinary legacy of supporting human rights, this award advances his contribution to building a world that is safe and welcoming to all. The unique award calls for multi-layered, brave and stirring African voices that represent a new wave of fresh storytelling, one that provokes thought on the topics of gender, social justice and sexuality.

Submissions are open to the following genres

• Fiction
• Non-fiction
• Poetry
• Photography
• Journalism/magazine reporting
• Scholarly articles in academic journals and book chapters/extracts
• Social media/blog writings and contributions

Only the very best work submitted will be shortlisted and published in the anthology, with the winners announced in 2018 at an awards ceremony hosted by the Other Foundation. A cash prize of R25 000 will be awarded to the author of the winning piece. The JLF will partner with publishers throughout the African continent in order to disseminate the work as widely as possible.

Gerald Kraak (1956-2014) was a passionate champion of social justice, an anti-apartheid activist and the head of the Atlantic Philanthropies’ Reconciliation and Human Rights Programme in South Africa. He authored two books, including the European Union Literary Award-winning Ice in the Lungs (Jacana, 2005), which explores South African politics, and directed a documentary on gay conscripts in the apartheid army. He will be remembered for being kind and generous, delightfully irreverent and deeply committed to realising an equal and just society for all. His unfinished novel, Shadow Play, posthumously completed by Alison Lowry, was published by Jacana Media in May 2017.

Rules

• The subject matter of the work must relate to gender, human rights and/or sexuality in Africa.
• Entries must have been created by a citizen of an African country, who lives and works on the continent. Written submissions must be in English.
• Up to three entries are permitted per author, across categories. Each entry must be submitted on a separate electronic entry form.
• Please number your pages, use a font size of 12, Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing (avoid unnecessary formatting, such as borders).
• Materials must not exceed 15 000 words or 10 images.
• We are looking for work which tells a story or illustrates an idea. If one photograph achieves this, then we welcome the submission of that single image. It is, however, more likely to be accomplished through a collection of photographs or a photographic essay.
• We accept work that has been published before.
• No handwritten or hard copy entries can be considered. Submissions must be made via the online portal.
• Entrants’ names should not be included on the manuscript being submitted, as the award is judged blind and the author remains anonymous until the shortlist has been selected (identifying details are only required on the online entry form).

Enquiries can be directed to awards@jacana.co.za.

Please fill in the online entry form to be considered for this award: www.jacana.co.za/awards/gerald-kraak-award-and-anthology.

Categories Fiction Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Gerald Kraak Gerald Kraak Award Ice in the Lungs Jacana Literary Foundation Other Foundation Shadow Play