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!

THE DEADLINE FOR THE ETHIOPIAN WORKSHOP HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 20 MAY.

Short Story Day Africa in partnership with the Goethe-Institut invite submissions to attend a series of one day workshops in the following cities:

Johannesburg, South Africa | 27 May 2017
Cape Town, South Africa | 27 May 2017
Nairobi, Kenya | 3 June 2017
Windhoek, Namibia | 3 June 2017
Yaoundé, Cameroon | 3 June 2017
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 10 June 2017
Kigali, Rwanda* | 3 June 2017 | By Invitation Only.

Writers working on entries for the prestigious 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize, or wanting to begin drafting an entry for the prize, are invited to submit an application.

Send a 200 word sample of your original writing, along with a short biographical statement of no more than 100 words, to
info@shortstorydayafrica.org with the subject line ID FLOW and the country you are applying for, i.e. ID FLOW KENYA if you are applying for Kenya, ID FLOW NAMIBIA if you are applying for Namibia. If you do not use this subject line your submission will be missed. Submissions close 2 May 2017. The writing sample need not be from your ID entry, but must be unpublished. Please read the Terms and Conditions below carefully before applying.

The workshop is free for selected participants, however space is limited. Successful applicants will be notified by 10 May 2017. If you have not heard from us by 10 May 2017, your application has not been successful.

*Please note the Kigali workshop is by invitation only.
Details of the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize are available on the website: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/the-ssda-prize/
We are grateful to our Flow Workshop partners, the Goethe-Institut.

Additionally, we would like to thank The Miles Morland Foundation, Worldreader, Huza Press and our many smaller yet equally vital patrons, without whom the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize and ID Anthology would not be possible. A full list is available on our Sponsors page.

Terms and conditions of entry:

1. Only African citizens, as well as persons residing permanently (granted permanent residence or similar) in any African country, are eligible to attend the workshops.
2. The workshops are free, and refreshments will be provided. However, only selected participants may attend.
3. Travel costs costs to the workshop are not covered. Applicants are entirely responsible for their own travel arrangements to and from the venue.
4. Any person granted a place at the workshop who does not then attend will be disqualified from entering the 2017 SSDA Prize and any SSDA Prize in the future, excepting where 48 hours notice is given or in cases of extreme emergency.
5. Previous Flow Workshop participants may not apply.
6. To apply, submit a 200 word sample of your original work, and accompanying 100 word bio to info@shortstorydayafrica.org with the subject line ID FLOW and the country you are applying for, i.e. ID FLOW KENYA if you are applying for Kenya, ID FLOW NAMIBIA if you are applying for Namibia etc. If you do not use this subject line your submission will be missed. The sample must be unpublished, but need not be from your ID entry.
7. Submissions close 2 May 2017. However, the deadline for the Ethiopian Flow Workshop has been extended until 20 May.
8. The Kigali Workshop is held in association with Huza Press, and only writers who are part of the Huza Press mentorship programme are invited to attend.
9. Samples must be submitted in English, and any writers wishing to attend the workshops or enter ID must be able to write in English.
10. Successful applicants will be notified by 10 May 2017. The judges decision is final.