Features
Apply For the 2024 Afrocritik Prize For Criticism
Afrocritik has announced the launch of its inaugural Afrocritik Prize for Criticism to celebrate its third anniversary. In recognition of Africa’s literary landscape which has grown over the years to acclaim both on the continent and abroad, the inaugural edition of the Afrocritik Prize for Criticism will spotlight discourse within the three selected works of contemporary African writers.
Entrants shall review Affection & Other Accidents by Dami Ajayi, Dreaming of Ways to Understand You by Jerry Chiemeke and His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie. The winner will receive a cash prize of $300, with the first and second runners-up receiving $200 and $100, respectively.
To apply, you must:
- Be between ages 17 – 24.
- Reside in Africa
How to apply:
- Submit a 600 to 800-word review each, covering all three books under review.
- Entries must be submitted as a single document (doc. or pdf file) within the entry period.
- Multiple submissions are discouraged.
- Submissions will be made here. Submissions by email will be disqualified.
A shortlist of five will be announced first, while the top three will be announced in June 2024. All shortlisted works will be published on the Afrocritik website. Proof of age and citizenship may be required during submission.
Deadline: April 30th, 2024.
Speaking on the prize launch, Owanate Max-Harry, Afrocritik’s co-founder, said, “As Afrocritik approaches its third anniversary, we thought it pertinent to further incentivise critical thinking, especially amongst the literary arts and in young Africans. This is in line with our mission to spotlight excellence in the continent and diaspora at large.”
Read About the Books
Affections & Other Accidents is a poetry collection by Nigerian author Dami Ajayi. Published in 2022, Affections & Other Accidents is Ajayi’s third volume of poems, comprising poems of different forms and lengths. The collection attests to a poet’s state of mind, as told across cities and continents. It intersects romance and heartbreak through politics, music, social justice, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dreaming of Ways to Understand You is a short story collection by Nigerian writer, Jerry Chiemeke. First published in 2021 and reproduced in print in 2024, the collection explores the complexities of human relationships. Dreaming of Ways to Understand You addresses important themes like mental health, sexuality, body positivity, ethnic sentiment, and domestic violence, told in a spirited and modern voice.
His Only Wife is a novel by Liberian-born Ghanaian academic and writer, Peace Adzo Medie. Published in 2020, His Only Wife is Medie’s debut novel. It follows a young seamstress, Afi Tekple, in a small town in Ghana, who moves to Accra after agreeing to an arranged marriage with the wealthy Elikem Ganyo. She soon finds out that all is not what it seems. But in this new city, she finds her independence in a world run by men.
Read more about the prize HERE.
