Burt Award for African Literature

This blog is dedicated to supporting African Literature. As a result I try to bring to my readers anything related to promoting Literature and reading in Africa. Hence, as I was reading through Wednesday 23rd September 2009 edition of the Daily Graphic, the largest selling newspaper in Ghana, I came across an advert which I think should be posted on this blog and should be encouraged.

BURT AWARD FOR AFRICAN LITERATURE: CODE and the Ghana Book Trust have the pleasure to invite Ghanaian authors to take part in a writing competition to produce engaging and educational stories for the youth (12-15 years old) that will be published through the Burt Award.

The Burt Award for African Literature is a newly created award programme that honours and supports the writing and publication of excellent young adult literature and for Africans. The Programme recognises outstanding authors and ensures publication of their work by local publishers.

The award is sponsored by CODE, a Canadian NGO, with generous support from Canadian patron Bill Burt. The award is restricted to authors who are citizens and resident in Ghana:

Prizes:
  • 1st Gold: GHC 16,000
  • 2nd Silver: GHC 8,000
  • 3rd Bronze: GHC 4,000
Requirements:
  1. The story should be original and written in English;
  2. Demonstrate a solid command of the English language, a clear, cohesive language and proper sentence structure, vocabulary and punctuation;
  3. Reflect modern realities and indicate some of the social problems which are facing adolescents and young adults in Ghana today;
  4. Be of strong literary merit, including engaging characters with whom young readers can identify and a protagonist who overcomes challenges or obstacles in a positive way;
  5. Be a well-developed plot with a good flow of events and pacing;
  6. Having an excellent story telling style;
  7. Deploy dialogue to make it lively and allow for dramatisation;
  8. Have the potential to evolve into a book series. A sequel would be welcome.
The manuscript should be between 80-120 pages and should be in chapter form. It should be type-written, double spaced. Times New Roman font size 12. The manuscript should be electronically sent to gbt@africaoline.com by 31st May, 2010 by 4.00 pm. See the Tanzania Burt Awards here...

Source: Daily Graphic, Wednesday September 23, 2009. No.18028.


PS: Read the winner here

Comments

  1. Pen Powder23 September 2009 at 15:05

    You can bet, If I was Ghanaian, I would have given this a hand...

    ReplyDelete
  2. ImageNations23 September 2009 at 15:07

    Hahahaha...hope Ghanaians participate.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Edward of PathGhana23 September 2009 at 19:35

    @ PenPowder|| Dont forget you also need to be between the ages of 12 and 15!! lol. too bad . I wished I could reverse the hands of time

    ReplyDelete
  4. ImageNations24 September 2009 at 00:20

    @Edward: I don't think so. The story is targeting individuals between 12 and 15 but the participants or prospective authors could be older. Check the Tanzanian winners...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rethabile24 September 2009 at 12:05

    Cool,
    I'll link to this in a post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Esi Cleland Yankson24 September 2009 at 12:16

    Nice! Will give it a shot. Another reason being a Ghanaian writer in Ghana rocks BIG TIME!

    ReplyDelete
  7. ImageNations24 September 2009 at 12:59

    @Rethabile...thanks. I hope with this we would spread the information.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ImageNations24 September 2009 at 13:00

    @EWC: Give it a try and you might be the winner. Who knows?

    ReplyDelete

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