African youths have no bigger cheerleader than us. We publish work by and for them. Literary news + opportunities too. See the best of Africa through our lens.
Our submission window opens tomorrow, August 1. Stay tuned to our submission page for guidelines.
Poems, short stories, personal essays, critical essays, comics, drama, graphic arts, photography, art, we want them all!
Who’s ready to send some in?
Congratulations to JAY Lit Issue 7 contributor Evidence Egwuono Adjarho (
@EEgwuono
) who has gone on to win the inaugural 2024 Afrocritik (
@afrocritik
) Prize for Criticism
We’re excited to introduce
#JAYLitIssue7
, a beautiful exploration of African experiences through various genres and forms, with a gorgeous cover art from Sheg Aranmolate’s Obirin Series.
Link:
Contributors below:
Evidence Egwuono Adjarho is the student librarian of the department of English, University of Lagos. She is the winner of the Atipo Prize for Book Review and Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Book Review.
Read her essay “Now That You Are a Woman” in
#JayLitIssue7
:
Introducing The 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing (
@CainePrize
) Shortlist
Tryphena Yeboah for ‘The Dishwashing Women’
Nadia Davids for ‘Bridling’
Samuel Kolawole for ‘Adjustment of Status’
Uche Okonkwo for ‘Animals’
Pemi Aguda for ‘Breastmilk’
Writers on my TL, is this a safe space? 🧎♀️
I have some works I would like to submit to magazines, and other such platforms but I don’t know how to start…
Do you have tips on how I could start? Which literary magazines should I check out first? I just need somewhere to start…
Submissions for our 8th issue are officially open. The issue will be guested by Namibian author Martha Khoeses and Mauritian poet Kaushar Edoo - MisKa.
We invite creative works across forms and all languages spoken in Africa!
Find guidelines at:
Our submission window opens tomorrow, August 1. Stay tuned to our submission page for guidelines.
Poems, short stories, personal essays, critical essays, comics, drama, graphic arts, photography, art, we want them all!
Who’s ready to send some in?
#JayLitInterviewSeries
with Makena Onjerika
@onjerika
talk about writing, ADHD, her cancelled anthology project, the Nairobi Writing Academy, the state of funding for African literature, and much more.
2024 The Isele Prizes (
@IseleMagazine
) Shortlists Announced!
Click the image below to see the list 👇🏽
Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers.
7.
@nkinnama_
is a poet and passionate writer from Cross River, Nigeria, who believes in the pure magic and power of storytelling. She published a novella, Our Father is Dead in 2018, and works as a comms expert.
Follow link in bio to read her poems featured in JAY Lit Issue 6!
Timi Sanni (
@timisanni
) is a writer, editor, and multidisciplinary artist. He is the winner of the 2022 Kreative Diadem Writing Contest, the 2021 Anita McAndrews Award Poetry Contest, and the 2020 SprinNG Poetry Contest.
Read his poems in
#JayLitIssue7
:
Demilade Oladapo graduated from the University of Lagos. When he is not writing or reading, he's watching boring Academy Award-type movies. He believes Coldplay is the greatest music band in the world.
Read his story “The Girlbird” in
#JayLitIssue7
:
Our June 2024 edition of the
#JayLitSpotlightSeries
features 2024 Jacobson scholar, Frances Ogamba.
It drops on Friday, June 14. We can’t wait to share Frances’ exciting story.
Announcing the Shortlisted Creatives: AprilCentaur (
@AprilCentaur
) Contest 2024
Congratulations to JAY Lit contributor Enit’ayanfe Ayosojumi Akinsanya (
@OsumareAyomi
) and the other talented shortlistees.
Mustapha Enesi (
@Eneessi
) is a joint winner of the 2023 Bridport Short Story prize (Young Writers Award) for his short story “One Good Thing”. In 2021, he won the K&L Prize for his short story “Kesandu”.
Read the prize-winning “Kesandu” in
#JayLitIssue7
:
In this interview,
@UtushimiTwandi
discusses her writing journey with
@HEEMtheWriter
, touching on rejections, what it takes to succeed as a writer, the MFA, the state of African writing,
@UbwaliLitMag
and The Hope Prize, etc.
Click to read! 👇🏼
JAY Lit Issue 7: Cover Reveal & Contributors List
The cover features a gorgeous piece from Sheg Aranmolate’s Oribin Series which, in February 2023, was selected for exhibition at The Kimpton Angeler’s Hotel in South Beach Miami, USA.
Our July 2024 edition of the
#JayLitSpotlightSeries
features the 2024 winner of the Ubwali (
@UbwaliLitMag
) Hope Prize, Mukandi Siame (
@Mukandii
).
It drops on Wednesday, July 24. We can’t wait to share Mukandi’s exciting story.
Momtaza Mehri (
@RuffneckRefugee
) and JAY Lit poetry editor Gabriel Awuah Mainoo (
@AwuahMainoo
) Among Poets Set to Headline Lyra-Bristol Poetry Festival
Enit'ayanfe Ayosojumi Akinsanya is an Itanile Prose Award and Sevhage-Agema-Founder's Prize Short Fiction Prize winner. He is the author of a short-story collection, How to Catch a Story That Doesn't Exist.
Read his story “Dear Ronda” in
#JayLitIssue7
:
In this interview,
@EugenBacon
talks to
@HEEMtheWriter
about her multiple hats as a scholar, mother, daughter, computer scientist re-engineered into writing, etc, plus her writing process, writing as an African outside Africa, her present projects & more.
MaryAnn Ifeanacho (
@anndrenalynn
) has been shortlisted for UBA Essay Competition, African Rubiz Prize for Prose, Poets in Nigeria Food Poetry Competition, FAB Prize, & WTAW Alcove Chapbook Competition.
Read her essay “Ignorance is Brit” in
#JayLitIssue7
:
Such an uncommon honor to be invited to the UK as the headline poet from Ghana to grace the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival. Grateful for Ashesi University & Bath Spa University (UK) for making this possible!
Kindly purchase your ticket in link
We’re very excited to introduce JAY Lit Issue 6, featuring a diverse range of poems, short stories, & essays that are sure to keep you engaged from cover to cover.
Many thanks to our contributors, and to
@AmogunlaFemi
for this issue’s cover image! ❤️❤️
Our submission window is officially closed, but we got so little visual submissions, we’ve decided to keep visual submissions open until May 12, 2024.
Find submission guidelines here:
Dismas Okombo is a short fiction writer and poet based in Nairobi, Kenya. His writing has appeared in Brittle Paper, The Kalahari Review, and African Writer Magazine.
Read his story “Crumpled Pieces of a Mother and Her Son” in
#JayLitIssue7
: