The Caine Prize for African Writing: 2026 Submissions now Open
The Caine Prize for African Writing is one of Africa’s most prestigious literary awards, established in 2000 to…
The Caine Prize for African Writing is one of Africa’s most prestigious literary awards, established in 2000 to celebrate outstanding short stories by African writers. Often described as the “African Booker,” the prize highlights creativity, storytelling excellence, and fresh literary voices from across the continent.
Each year, it brings global attention to emerging and established African authors, helping to launch or elevate their literary careers while showcasing the richness and diversity of African narratives.
Eligibility Criteria
- The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline. For 2026 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 27th February 2021 and 27th February 2026.
- Entries must be between 3,000 and 10,000 words in length.
- Entries must be submitted by a publisher. This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and arts-oriented websites. Kindly note that the publisher submitting the entry cannot also be the author of the story.
- Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
- Self-published and unpublished short stories are not eligible.
- Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author.
- Stories may only be entered for consideration for The Caine Prize for African Writing once. Unfortunately, this means that you may not re-submit a story for consideration, even if it was not selected for the shortlist.
- Genres not eligible for entry include: novels, children’s stories, factual writing, academic essays, plays, poetry, autobiography/biography, and any work that does not constitute a fictional short story.
- Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the short story word count.
- Publishers must obtain the consent of the author before submitting the short story.
- When submitting digitally published short stories, kindly provide a PDF version. Alternatively, you may instead provide a PDF containing a link to the publication.
Submissions that do not meet the above criteria will not be eligible for the Prize. If you have any questions or query regarding the eligibility criteria, please email: submissions@caineprize.com.
By submitting a story, publishers and writers agree to the conditions outlined above in the criteria, as well as those below in the Frequently Asked Questions section and Google Form. Shortlisted candidates will receive separate Terms and Conditions.
Shortlisting and Expectations
- The winner and shortlisted writers will be invited to participate in online and in-person events should resources and circumstances permit.
- By consenting to their stories being submitted for the Prize, the shortlisted writers agree to take part in Prize related events, including but not limited to in-person and online panel discussions, interviews, readings and podcast recordings.
The Prize will provide a separate letter detailing terms of agreement to the shortlisted writers.