Read this page carefully before making your submission. Thanks.
Read this page carefully before making your submission. Thanks.
Submission Guidelines
- Eligibility: Anyone can make a submission, but the entry must be themed around an ‘African experience’ We believe anyone can have an African experience.
- This is a one-time submission form, so you cannot return to edit it or re-submit a different form.
- We are ONLY accepting poetry for our second issue, which will be published in 2025.
- The maximum number of poems you can submit is 2, uploaded in a single Microsoft Word document.
- You MUST include your brief biography of no more than 300 words in the document alongside your submission. Please keep your biography simple and factual. Please refrain from using self-aggrandising or puffery language.
- We generally do not discriminate against work that has been published elsewhere. If we love it, we’ll publish it, but let us know where and when it was published while you make your submission.
- If your submission is selected for publishing, you will be notified by email.
We seek poems that:
- Explore the ubiquitous and seemingly unimportant moments of everyday life, human experiences, and motivations – in a creative and universally relatable way. Can you magnify pedestrian details and subtle insights within the absurd or trivial existence of places, objects, or animals? We’d love to read your work.
- We love poems that are entertaining and engaging, using wit and humour within their reflections. We appreciate irony and sarcasm. We’ve already said it, but we’ll say it again: we love humour, even in poignant reflections. However, we love it best when it’s used like seasoning in food – don’t force it. After all, you wouldn’t cook a pot of rice with a cup of salt.
- We appreciate poems that are simple, clear and unpretentious without being plain or one-dimensional. We prioritise accessibility over pedantry and adherence to traditional poetry rules. We aren’t fans of purists or excessive ornamentation and abstraction.
- We avoid heavy political, advocacy, or activist themes (such as social justice or identity). Instead, we focus on individual moments within the collective experience of groups. We almost always favour timeless human experiences over contemporary issues. However, if you can elevate the trivial within contemporary issues, we would consider publishing your work.
- We don’t see ourselves as worthy of the honourable goal of seeking social change through poetry. Instead, we have chosen the less noble path of celebrating the subtle insights of life’s mundanities. We prefer writings that remind us of what humans have in common (no matter how trivial) over what sets us apart (no matter how urgent). For example, we may not get giddy about a poem for or against abortion rights, but we would publish one on the awkwardness that follows a child’s public and blunt honesty about an adult’s appearance.
- We love original poems and fresh ideas. The only thing we dislike more than clichés is plagiarism. Please ensure the work you submit is entirely your own.
Timeline
- Call for Submissions: September 1, 2024 – December 30, 2024
- Review Period: January 1, 2025 – March 30, 2025 (Acceptance and rejections will be sent on an ongoing basis.)
- Editorial Period: April 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025(All writers whose works are accepted will be notified to make adjustments to their work based on our editors’ feedback.)
- Prize Announcement: July 2025 (All longlisted, shortlisted, and winning pieces will be announced)
- Online Issue Release: August 20, 2025 (All the selected works will be released in an anthology on our website.)
- Print Release: September 2025 (All selected works will be released in print for purchase.)
PJ 2025 Prizes
- Winner: ₦300,000
- Second place: ₦150,00
- Third place: ₦75,000
Have inquiries? Please email: info@poetryjournal.org