The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022

The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022 is an annual prize of USD $1,500 awarded to ten poems written by an African poet.

Submit To The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022

The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022 is an annual prize of USD $1,500 awarded to ten poems written by an African poet.

Established first as the Brunel International African Poetry Prize  (BIAPP) in 2012 by British writer Bernardine Evaristo, who founded and  managed the prize for ten years, the Evaristo Prize was renamed and  passed on to be managed by the African Poetry Book Fund in 2022. A close  partner of APBF, the BIAPP sought to “encourage a new generation of  poets who might one day become an international presence.” 

Indeed, the  excellence of BIAPP winners continues to be celebrated globally as many  of the poets have gone to publish chapbooks, full-length poetry  collections, and win more prizes. The BIAPP announced their final winner in May 2022.

President of the UK’s Royal Society of Literature and a celebrated  writer, Bernardine Evaristo is an APBF Editorial Board Member; Professor  of Creative Writing at Brunel University London; and the author of ten  books of fiction, poetry, essays, drama, criticism, and journalism.

Related Competitions

• Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize 2022
• ServiceScape Short Story Award 2022
• Sillerman First Book Prize 2022
• The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022
• J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction 2022
• The Writers College Free Writing Competition 2022
• Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition 2023
• The European Writing Prize 2022
• Royal Institute Of Philosophy Essay Prize 2022

Eligibility Criteria For The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2022

The Prize is open to African writers. An “African writer” is taken to  mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of  an African country, or whose parents are African.

The prize is open to African poets who have not yet had a full-length  poetry book published at the time of submission. Self-published poetry  books, chapbooks, and pamphlets are exempt from this stipulation.

Only poems written in English can be considered, but we welcome poems  in translation for consideration too. In the case that the winning work  is translated, a percentage of the prize money would be awarded to the  translator.

No past or present paid employees of the University of Nebraska  Press, Akashic Books, or Amalion Press, or current faculty, students, or  employees at the University of Nebraska are eligible for the prizes.

African poets who have published a chapbook in a New-Generation African Poets Chapbooks Box Set series remain eligible for the Evaristo African Poetry Prize if they have not published a full-length book of poems.

WHEN TO SEND

Manuscripts of 10 poems, no more and no less, will be accepted annually between October 1st  and November 1st via Submittable. 

Please do not send any submissions via email. We do not have the capacity to track submissions by email and any manuscripts received as such will not be considered.

MANUSCRIPT

Poems must be the original work of the entrant and be no longer than 40 lines each.

Poems may have been previously published or won previous awards.

People who have entered previously for the prize can re-submit but are advised to share new poems.

While we have no specific formatting rules, we suggest sending your  manuscript in Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point font, single-spaced. 

We  also prefer one poem per page, meaning a new poem does not begin on the  same page on which another ends. The entire submission must be in black  ink, no colors.

Poems must be submitted in a single document without any identifying information included. 

Alterations  cannot be made to poems once entered. 

The Submittable cover letter, which will be concealed to screeners and judges, should include the entrants’ name, nationality, country of birth, full address including country of permanent residence, personal email address and telephone number.

JUDGING

In 2022-2023, the judging panel includes Gabeba Baderoon (Chair), Tjawangwa Dema, and Tsitsi Jaji.

To ensure confidentiality and fairness, all submissions to the Evaristo Prize are handled by our Book Prize Coordinator, Nicole Lachat. 

 Please direct questions regarding submissions to her attention at psbookprize@unl.edu.

Submit