Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology reopens submissions

The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) and the Other Foundation have reopened submissions for the second annual Gerald Kraak Award. This was due to a technical glitch with their online submissions portal. Writers who have submitted but have not gotten feedback are encouraged to “please resubmit.” New entries would also be accepted during the open submissions […]

The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) and the Other Foundation have reopened submissions for the second annual Gerald Kraak Award. This was due to a technical glitch with their online submissions portal.

Writers who have submitted but have not gotten feedback are encouraged to “please resubmit.” New entries would also be accepted during the open submissions period, which would last until 13 October 2017.

Created in honour of the late activist, Gerald Kraak because of his extraordinary legacy of supporting human rights, the award advances his contribution to building a world that is safe and welcoming to all. 

The award calls for multi-layered, brave and stirring African voices that represent a new wave of fresh storytelling, one that provokes thought on the topics of gender, social justice and sexuality.

Submissions are open in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, journalism or magazine reporting, scholarly articles in academic journals and book chapters or extracts, social media or blog writings and contributions.

The very best work submitted will be short-listed and published in the anthology, with the winners announced in 2018 at an awards ceremony hosted by the Other Foundation. A cash prize of R25 000 will be awarded to the author of the winning piece. The JLF will partner with publishers throughout the African continent in order to disseminate the work as widely as possible.

Gerald Kraak (1956-2014) was a passionate champion of social justice, an anti-apartheid activist and the head of the Atlantic Philanthropies’ Reconciliation and Human Rights Programme in South Africa. He authored two books, including the European Union Literary Award-winning Ice in the Lungs (Jacana, 2005), which explores South African politics, and directed a documentary on gay conscripts in the apartheid army.