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Gotten published from an opportunity you found on African Writer Weekly? Help us celebrate you by telling us all about it here.
Kaleidotrope publishes predominantly speculative fiction and poetry—science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories. (Man does not live on space ships, elves, and ghostly ax murderers alone, after all.) It does not publish nonfiction.
Deadline: 25th July 2026 | Pay: From $0.01/word
Things to note:
Fiction: stories over 250 words and under 10,000.
Poetry: They consider all forms of poetry, but individual haiku, or other very short poems, may be a tougher sell.
Kaleidotrope only accepts electronic submissions, sent by e-mail attachment to kaleidotrope@gmail.com.
.doc/.docx or .rtf file format strongly preferred.
It is strongly recommended that you generally follow standard manuscript format for all manuscripts.
Kaleidotrope prefers Courier 12pt font and double-spacing, but Times New Roman or other similar fonts are fine.
No simultaneous submissions. No reprints. No fan fiction.
For more details, click here.
To create a better world, we need to first imagine it—and the work required to get there. The Protopian Fiction Prize invites you to share your vision of people working toward liberatory futures, meeting obstacles, and making real change. A “protopia” is an optimistic but achievable future. They are now inviting short story submissions for their Democratic Futures prize.
“Democratic futures go beyond incremental reforms of electoral systems to reimagine the mechanisms of both representative and direct forms of democracy, and the societal structures needed to enable them. They follow the principle that decisions made for a society should be made by the members of that society, balancing broad-based input with protection of rights. History has shown the imagination required to expand—and the dangers of trying to curtail—who gets input and how, and what rights are protected for whom.”
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Prize: $5000
Things to note:
Some key features of democratic futures:
DELIBERATION: There are ways for people to learn about, debate, and come to conclusions about major issues.
CONSENT: People have some method of agreeing to the structures of decision-making, if not always the outcomes.
CONSTRAINT: There are limits on what those in power can do, how long they can hold that power, and how they can hold onto it.
Send unpublished short stories of 500 - 6,000 words
They are looking for short stories that:
Incorporate positive visions of democratic futures at any scale – local, national, or global.
Show how we can shape democratic futures for the public good.
Inspire and empower us all to imagine and create the futures we want.
Give us a north star, and ideas for how to move towards it.
Bring to life the complexities, tradeoffs and paths of action to maximize human flourishing.
For more background on democratic futures and story prompts click here.
Winning stories will also be published in In the Loop: Stories from the Future of People, Power, and Machines, an anthology to be published by MIT Press and edited by judging leads Gideon Lichfield and Ruthanna Emrys, alongside invited stories by professional science fiction authors.
To submit, click here.
This prize focuses on the potential positive change in AI and AI policy.
“Tech CEOs have the platforms to share their versions of our future AI world. Hollywood and news media dystopias are showing us others. These futures are not inevitable. Now it’s time to share your Protopian Public AI vision.
Public AI is the concept of AI as public infrastructure—provisioned like electricity, water, roads, libraries, or the Internet itself. Public AI could be created by one or more governments working together, or through other collaborative and non-commercial entities with a mission to support the public good. ”—PF
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Prize: $5000
Things to note:
The principles of Public AI include:
It is publicly accessible ensuring AI delivers benefits to all.
It is publicly accountable ensuring AI reflects society’s values.
It delivers permanent public goods ensuring AI is a reliable foundation.
They’re looking for short stories that:
Incorporate positive visions of an AI-enabled future that foreground Public AI.
Help the public understand how we can shape an AI-based state for the public good.
Inspire and empower us all to imagine and create the AI future we want.
Give us a north star, and ideas for how to move towards it.
Bring to life the complexities, tradeoffs and paths of action to maximize human flourishing.
Send unpublished short stories of 500 - 6,000 words
Send this to a writer who’s #TeamDeadline💪🏾
At NewMyths Magazine, they publish fiction, poetry, and non-fiction works. They like to balance each quarterly issue between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works. They also accept book reviews.
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Prize: $0.05/word
Things to note:
Submissions should be 10,000 words or less, previously unpublished, and preferably PG.
Please send submissions as Word or PDF attachments to editor@newmyths.com.
The best way to know if your submission is a good fit for NewMyths.com is to read some of their past issues.
Book reviews: NewMyths publishes only original book reviews. No reprints, please.
Reviews should be 500-1,000 words. We prefer reviews of novels published within the past year, but also consider reviews of older works, poetry collections, anthologies, and nonfiction works related to fantasy and science fiction.
Send inquiries to Candy at editor@newmyths.com.
Responses to your submissions may take as long as six months. Feel free to send a follow-up email query if you have not received a reply before the next submission period.
JAY Lit publishes creative writing, poetry, prose (stories and narratives), plays, with a storyline in ANY language used in Africa, such as Swahili, Amharic, Yoruba, Zulu, Chichewa, English, French, etc. Submissions must be by, about, and/or for born-in-Africa youths. For the purposes of the Journal, ‘African’ is defined according to place of birth or heritage. It is not related to colour or race.
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Pay: Nomination for JayLit Annual Prize
Things to note:
All submissions must be the original creation of the individual submitting them, and they cannot have been previously published elsewhere.
Please note that while the content they publish is mostly by youth aged 15 to 35, they also publish older individuals whose work is made with this age bracket in mind.
– Use 12-point Times New Roman
– Double-space your work with justified alignment
– British and American English are accepted, but please be consistent
– Add page numbers at the bottom of each page
– Send documents in MS Word format
Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
If your submission is not in English please include a short summary in English of what your submission is about when you send it.
Remove your name and every identification detail from the document
Poetry:
For short poems, they want poems of up to 20 lines each. You can submit up to 5 short poems at once. For longer poems, they want 21-50 lines. Please submit only one long poem at a time.
Please send your submission to poetry.submissions@jaylit.com. In the subject line, indicate if your submission is a long poem or short poem(s), put your name and the title of your submission. If you’re submitting a packet of poems, put the number of poems in the subject line instead.
Prose:
For short stories and personal essays (CNF), they want between 1,000-4,000 words. For shorter prose (flash fiction or flash CNF), they want between 250 and 1,000 words.
Please send your submission to prose.submissions@jaylit.com. In the subject line, indicate if your submission is a short story, a personal essay, a flash fiction, or a flash CNF, put your name and the title of your submission. E.g. [Short Story – Sipho Adewale – Laugh Laugh Laugh].
Plays:
For short plays, they want up to 4,000 words. For longer plays, they want between 4,000 and 20,000 words.
Please send your submission to prose.submissions@jaylit.com. In the subject line, indicate if your submission is a short play or a long play, put your name and the title of your submission. E.g. [Long Play – Sipho Adewale – Laugh Laugh Laugh].
Critical Essays and Reviews:
Send to ibrahim.ibrahim@jaylit.com. Word count should not exceed 2,000 words.
For translations, make sure you’ve secured the rights to the original text if you’re interested in submitting translated work to us. Please send a pitch to ibrahim.ibrahim@jaylit.com to discuss further.
This issue of Magma aims to highlight and celebrate the best of Black poetry in the UK and across the African diaspora. By creating a space solely for Black poets, they want to demolish any imagined boxes that Black writers might feel they must create within.
“We want poems that centre Black perspectives and that are in dialogue with: the legacies, consequences and lived experiences of those in Africa and the diaspora. We welcome poems across time periods and temporalities that express the under-explored breadth and depth of Black experiences. There are some great poets out there waiting for an opportunity to be seen; here’s your chance.”—Magma
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Pay: unstated
Things to note:
They welcome poems that have not been previously published in print, online, or broadcast.
They accept simultaneous submissions, but please withdraw your submission or contact them if it is accepted for publication somewhere else first.
You may submit up to 4 previously unpublished poems: ONLINE in a single Word document.
Click this link to submit
Open Arts Press is a publishing house dedicated to nurturing and sharing African stories. They champion writers whose voices carry history, imagination, and truth to build global pathways for their work. They are have now offering the Open Arts Prize for the best unpublished fiction by an African/Black author, on the theme: inheritance.
“Whether your work explores family history, cultural memory, intergenerational conflict, or personal transformation, the judges are seeking fiction that tells the truth with boldness, grace, and originality.” —CWS (source)
Deadline: 31st July 2026, 11:59 PM WAT | Pay: $500
Things to note:
Maximum Word Count: 3,500 words
Submission Format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Times New Roman or Garamond, 12-point font
All submissions must be written in English, original and unpublished.
Only one submission per writer
Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but writers must withdraw their entry if it is accepted elsewhere.
Send submissions to submissions@openarts.press
For more info, see here.
The Diverse Writers grant is intended to support speculative fiction writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups — such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, etc. — whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing and publishing process.
While the Diverse Worlds Grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background.
Both grants are generously funded by David D. Levine.
Deadline: 31st July 2026 | Prize: $500 per grant
Things to note:
Your project does not need to center on identity issues. They are looking for writing that offers deep characterization, complex cultural landscapes, and strong literary quality overall.
The submitted project must be a book-length work of speculative fiction. Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under their aegis. Nonfiction, poetry, picture books, and editorial projects are not eligible for either grant.
These grants are designed to foster new, in-progress work, not to recognize already published work.
This grant is open to all levels of publishing experience, worldwide. The grant jury will be primarily English-reading, although works that incorporate other languages (as in Keri Hulme’s The Bone People’s use of Maori) are welcome.
Required application materials include:
A written description of the project: This description should not exceed 500 words.
A cover letter: Explain which grant (or grants) you are applying for. Include a short (less than 500 words) autobiographical statement describing your work thus far and a bibliography of previously published work, if applicable. Applicants need not have prior publishing credits to apply. For the Diverse Writers grant, please provide a brief statement on the relevant aspect(s) of your background.
A writing sample: Sample should not exceed 5,000 words. The submitted work must be speculative fiction as defined above.
You may apply for both grants at once. For more info, click here.
To submit, click here.
Okiti Literary is a biannual online literary journal based in Ondo State, Nigeria. They publish outstanding poems from Nigerian and international writers, spanning diverse styles and traditions. “Whether your poetry leans toward the traditional or pushes the boundaries of form, we want to read it. Bring us your narrative pieces, fantasies, and linguistic innovations.”—Okiti
Deadline: 31st July 2025 | Pay: unstated
Things to note:
Writers from anywhere in the world are welcome to submit. While other languages may be included, the poem’s primary language must be English.
Send your best work to okitiliterary@gmail.com—we are highly selective.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but if your work is accepted elsewhere, notify us promptly so we can celebrate with you.
Each submission may contain up to 3 poems, totalling no more than 8 pages.
Submit your work as a single .doc or .docx file (12-point font, single-spaced). While we accept .pdf files for reading, a .doc or .docx will be required upon acceptance.
Multiple submissions will not be considered—please send all poems in ONE document.
Include a brief cover letter with any relevant publication history, if applicable.
Expect a response within 8 to 12 weeks. Please do not follow up before 12 weeks have passed.
Khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora authors and artists. They are currently seeking submissions under the theme: Symbiosis. They welcome, but do not require, a brief description of the author’s identity in their cover letter.
Deadline: 31st July 2025 | Pay: Up to $500
Guidelines:
Please format your story using the Shunn modern manuscript format (details at this link: https://www.shunn.net/format/story/).
Writers may omit their mailing address for submission, but accepted stories will require a mailing address for our contracts.
Please submit based on length — stories ≤1,500 words should go into the flash queue, while stories 1,501-5,000 words should go into the short story queue.
Writers may submit one story each to the Flash and Short Story queues every submission period.
Please do not send stories with gratuitous gore or violence; fridging (where a character dies or undergoes pain in service of the protagonist’s story or to serve as character development); overwhelming racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. elements that are not subverted or challenged; clichés; “it was all a dream” endings; stories where a person from a non-marginalized group experiences life as someone from a marginalized background.
Cover letters aren’t mandatory, but there are a few things that are really helpful for us to see from you.
Author bio: Tell them a bit about yourself! This can include, but is not limited to, your identity; past sales; inspiration for the piece or particular qualifications for writing it
Submission status: If the piece is a simultaneous submission, please let say so.
Content warnings: Please include content warnings in your cover letter and in the text of your piece. Content warnings will not impact whether or not we accept your piece; we’ve published some really dark stories.
Genre: Please include the general genre of the piece in your cover letter (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc.)
Feedback preference: They can’t provide feedback on every piece received, but they try where we can. If you do not want feedback, please let them know in the cover letter!
IHRAM Press—The International Human Rights Art Movement—was founded out of artist-activist Tom Block’s passion to use creativity to spur positive social change. They are now open to submissions for an issue dedicated to amplifying the voices of women of colour.
This issue will explore stories of hope, resistance, and resilience—shining a light on the struggles, strengths, and creativity of women of colour worldwide.
“We also acknowledge that terms such as “women of colour,” “BIPOC,” or “BAME” can be limiting, centering whiteness in ways that feel triggering or reductive. We invite contributors to self-identify in the ways that feel most authentic to them. This issue is a platform for visibility, empowerment, and art as resistance. We recognize that not all inequalities are experienced the same way. Therefore, we wish to highlight intersectional feminism in this collection and amplify those voices.”—IP
Deadline: 1st August 2026 | Pay: up to $50
Things to note:
They’re looking for:
Experiences of discrimination and inequality (health, social, political, economic).
Intersectional feminism: recognizing that inequalities are lived differently across identities and contexts.
Cultural and generational stories—memories, traditions, and the legacies women carry.
Creative expressions of solidarity, empowerment, and collective care.
Short stories/essays: 2500 words or less
Poetry: Maximum 5 poems per submission, one publication per author.
Include the call you are responding to in the email’s subject line. And in the email include:
Your full name and/or pen name.
Your country of residence.
A brief third-person bio (roughly 100 words). If your bio includes references of your past work, feel free to provide links!
A brief foreword to your piece (between 300-500 words), explaining your inspiration for creating it, background information, explanation of key characters, and any other key insight for the reader.
Submit your work to submit@humanrightsartmovement.org
Click here to submit an opportunity.
The Voice That Rejected Masculinity | Augustine Onyechi (Nigeria)
was 17 when I first heard my voice the way others did. On a quiet Saturday evening, my mother’s bright orange Trium cellphone rang, its black body vibrating in an arc on the dining table. I checked the screen: “Mama I.” Her elder sister was calling from London. I pulled the antenna and pressed the answer button.
“Hello, Auntie.” I walked to my parents’ bedroom where the signal was stronger.
“Hello.” Her response sounded hoarse and uncertain, almost like a question. I pictured her in her cold London apartment.
“Auntie, it’s me, Obinna. My mummy went for a meeting.”
“Obinna?” She gave a soft, surprised laugh. “Nke a olu gi di ka nke nwanyi. Your voice sounds like a woman’s.” I chuckled. The smile I plastered on felt tight…
If you’d like your already PUBLISHED prose featured in ‘Prose of The Week’ please fill this form.
Macabre | Timileyin O. Adepoju (Nigeria)
A bird will fly out of a rifle to taste
the sweetness of a body. Everything caged longs for freedom.
To grasp the wind and twitch out miracles
Wonder why often it is a bird?
Its wings flailing the body of streets like the stings of death.
In Edo, a flock hunts through a town & ends in furnace.
The city makes fire of their bodies and barrels— a malleable of firewoods…
If you’d like your already PUBLISHED poetry featured in ‘Poetry of The Week’ please fill this form.
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Ka ndu diri gi mma (May life be good to you—Igbo, Nigeria)
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