Quramo Writers’ Prize 2022 invites unpublished African writers to submit fiction prose manuscripts with a minimum word count of 30,000.
The award was founded in 2017 by publishing house, Quramo Publishing Ltd., as an avenue for fresh writers to showcase their manuscripts to the global literary community, and contribute their works to the canonization of African literature.
The prize aims to encourage and stimulate a new community of talented writers, providing an opportunity for unpublished writers to achieve publishing recognition and encouragement.
Previous winners have been Samuel Monye (2017), Michael Emmanuel (2018), Vivian Onyekachi Ibe (2019), Kadiri Alex (2020), and Akintomiwa Akinnimi Oluwaseun (2021).
The winner of the Quramo Writers’ Prize will receive a cash remuneration of one million naira (₦1,000,000), and a development publishing deal. Submissions open on 1 February 2022 and close on 30 April 2022.
ENTRY GUIDELINES FOR QURAMO WRITERS’ PRIZE (QWP) 2022
All entries outside the following requirements are liable for disqualification:
● The Quramo Writers’ Prize is only open to unpublished Africans living within and outside the continent
● The fiction prose manuscript must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant. Published work is not eligible for the prize.
● Short story collections, plays, and poetry are not eligible.
● Manuscripts must contain at least 30,000 words.
● All entrants must be legal adults (18 years and above). Children are not eligible for the prize.
● All entries must be submitted through the submissions portal on the official Quramo website in the following format:
- Times New Roman font type
- MS Word format
- Font Size 12
- Left justified
- 1.5 line spacing
- Page numbers on each page
All submissions must be sent in with the following information:
1. A one-page synopsis
2. A short personal biography of 100 words max. (in third person POV)
3. Social media profiles (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook)
4. Full (legal) name
5. Physical address
6. Email address
7. Phone number
● Manuscripts submitted to the QWP must not have been entered into any other competitions running concurrently. Prior entries for the QWP are also ineligible.
● Identifying information (name, address, etc.) should not be included on the pages of the manuscript.
● Entries that do not comply with the competition rules will be disqualified.
● All longlisted entrants must be available to participate in a publicity campaign from the date of announcement of the longlist leading up to the unveiling of the winner of the prize.
● The winner of the competition shall be eligible to receive a sum of ₦1,000,000 (One Million Naira) and a publishing contract with Quramo Publishing Limited.
● Quramo Publishing shall have a right of first refusal for the second book by the winner.
● The winner undertakes to participate and work with editors at Quramo Publishing at every material time for the development and publication of the manuscript, upon execution of the development publishing agreement.
● The winner undertakes to commit fully to the promotion and publication of the book upon publication.
● Quramo reserves the right to refuse to award the prize should it come to a decision that none of the manuscripts submitted is worthy of winning the prize.
Quramo Publishers provided guidelines on writing the perfect synopsis. You can find it here.
If you are interested in participating in this year’s competition, click here to access the QWP submission’s page.
