Call for Submissions: Paperight Young Writers Anthology 2013

We’re putting together the first Paperight Young Writers Anthology. High school learners from around South Africa are invited to submit their original short stories, essays, poetry and black-and-white illustrations for inclusion in this ground-breaking new collection.

Aspiring young writers in South Africa don’t have nearly enough opportunities to have their work published and their voices heard, or to test the waters for careers in creative and academic writing.

We at Paperight aren’t just passionate about fostering a culture of reading in South Africa, but also about sparking a bigger culture of writing in our country, to chronicle the emotions and happenings of the extraordinary changes our country and our continent is going through every day.

The collection will be selected, edited and compiled by a collective of literary editors and designers and will be distributed in print – through our ever-growing national network of Paperight outlets – online and on mobile phones, potentially reaching an audience of hundreds of thousands of young readers.

High school language teachers are encouraged to inform their students of the call for submissions and the wonderful opportunity it presents for fledgling scribes. (Plus, it means good exposure for your school and your students!)

Guidelines:

• Submissions will be accepted in English, Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans, and can be on any subject.
• Short stories and essays can be on any topic, but must be less than 2000 words.
• Illustrations must be in grayscale or black-and-white and should fit on an A4 page.
• All submissions must be accompanied by a short letter with your name, contact details (phone number and/or e-mail address), your school, your grade, the title of your work and its word count.
• You may submit a maximum of five pieces.

To sweeten the deal, the submitters of the best poem, essay, short story and illustration will each win R1000.

Submissions can be sent to us electronically at anthology@paperight.com, or sent by post to Paperight Anthology, 3rd Floor, Sunclare Building, Dreyer Street, Claremont, 7708. If you have any concerns, queries or problems with submission, let us know at team@paperight.com.

Submissions will close on Friday 22 March 2013.

If you would like a printable PDF of a call for submissions poster to share or stick up in your school, simply click here for one in English, here for one in isiXhosa, here for one in Zulu and here for one in Afrikaans.