In this country, a boss should always be bald and have a big belly. My uncle isn’t bald,

With acclaimed Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou joining Africa Writes on July 2nd,  we’ve teamed up with AFREADA to run a global writing competition with the chance to win £100!

We are inviting writers, anywhere and everywhere, to participate in a 500-word short story competition which is loosely based on Mabanckou’s amusing and heart-warming story, Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty. Told from the perspective of 10-year-old Michel living in Pointe Noire, Congo, the story begins:

In this country, a boss should always be bald and have a big belly. My uncle isn’t bald, he hasn’t got a big belly, and you don’t realise, the first time you see him, that he’s the actual boss of a big office in the centre of town…

The rules are simple: …open a Word Document and continue the story.
We want you to pick up where Mabanckou left off, but you are not bound by the circumstances of this particular story. Go wherever the spirit leads but be mindful of our one and only rule: the story must be told from the perspective of a child living somewhere in Africa.

We are offering a £100 cash prize to the winning story, which will be published in AFREADA , and announced at the Africa Writes opening R.A.P party on June 30th.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, read the guidelines below and get to work!

Entry Guidelines:

• All entries MUST start with the opening lines of Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty, by Alain Mabanckou.
• All entries must be no more than 500 words (including the excerpt)
• All entries must be emailed to
editor@afreada.com as Microsoft Word attachments.
• Please put “AFREADA x Africa Writes Competition – Your Full Name ” in the subject line.
• In the body of the email, please include your contact details, social media handles and a short bio (100 words max).
• Deadline: Sunday, 18th June. 23:59 BST.
Questions? Click here and go straight to the comment section!