Call for Submissions | Global China-Africa Writing Competition

Aiming to enhance the humanistic aspect of China-Africa relations and promote mutual appreciation of Chinese and African cultures and civilizations, China-Africa Shanghai International Network (CASIN) will launch “The First AC/CA Global China-Africa Writing Competition” on 20 July 2023. We call for submissions of writings from around the world in two categories: fiction and non-fiction, and outstanding authors will be rewarded with monetary encouragements and honorary awards. It is our hope that the submitted writings focus on the humanistic communication between China and African countries. These works shall highlight the everyday and affective aspects of the intercultural interactions between Chinese and African peoples, present both the emerging opportunities and persistent challenges in these interactions, and thus demonstrate the diversity and great potential of creative approaches to understanding China-Africa relations today.

China-Africa Shanghai International Network (CASIN) is a local network chapter (LNC) of the world's largest independent, interdisciplinary China-Africa research network, Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network (CA/AC). The CA/AC Research Network was established in 2007, which currently hosts over 1,000 members around the world and includes experts in academia, diplomacy, media & communications, the arts & humanities, and international development. Our mission is to help move the global conversation about China-Africa forward in a critical and constructive way while developing a transnational community of scholars and practitioners who value dialogue, equity, and inclusiveness.

Submission Method: Please send your submission as a PDF or DOC file to this email address: casinwriting@gmail.com. Please make sure that no personal information is disclosed in the actual submission. You may introduce yourself in the email or attach a separate file of brief biography.

Accepting Submissions Until: March 1st, 2024

Submission Requirement：The submitted works should focus on the humanistic and cultural aspects of China-Africa relations. Please indicate whether your submission is fiction or non-fiction in the file name of the PDF or DOC file. If the original language of composition of the submission is neither Chinese nor English, please provide a Chinese and English translation. The category of fiction here mainly refers to short stories/novelettes, while nonfiction may include travelogues, prose essays and short commentaries. Please be aware that poetry and standard academic essays are not accepted genres for this competition. The submitted work must be original and remains unpublished for the duration of this competition.

Word Count Restriction：The submitted work should be between 1,000 and 10,000 words in English or between 1,000 and 10,000 Chinese characters. Please state the word count of the piece in the final page of the document. Works that have word counts that do not fall within this range will not be considered.

About the Awards：Fiction and non-fiction will be evaluated separately, and each category will have a final winner and a runner-up. The final winners will get 2000 RMB each, the runners-up 1000 RMB each. All winning pieces and a select pool of excellent works will be published online via our public accounts and channels, and there will be an awarding ceremony and dinner in Shanghai for the awardees. We will partially subsidize their travel and accommodation expenses subjective to our financial situation in 2024. There is a possibility that the winning pieces will be selected for edited book publication in the future.

Result Announcement：May 2024 (subject to subsequent adjustment by the organizer)

Award Ceremony：June 2024 (subject to subsequent adjustment by the organizer)

Evaluation Method：The judges will read and mark each submission anonymously, and all the submissions will then be ranked according to their average mark to decide who the winners and runners-up are. If the top works happen to have the same mark, the judges will discuss and vote to decide which work shall receive the award(s).

written by Flair Donglai SHI

Edited by Jingwen He