Small Axe Project is a a Caribbean platform for social, political, and cultural criticism. Held annually, The Small Axe Literary Competition encourages the production and publication of Caribbean fiction and poetry. The competition has two categories: poetry and short stories. It promotes the work of emerging writers whose work centres on regional and diasporic Caribbean themes and concerns:
“This competition is part of the Small Axe Project’s ongoing commitment to Caribbean cultural production and our mission to provide a forum for innovative critical and creative explorations of Caribbean reality. With this competition, we hope to encourage and support the region’s rich literary heritage, in the tradition of precursors such as Bim, Kyk-over-al, Focus and Savacou.”
To enter this year’s prize, submit either a short story no longer than 7000 words or a maximum ten poems, not exceeding ten manuscript pages as a Word document to litcomp@smallaxe.net. All submissions must be original and unpublished. To ensure that the judging process is completely blind, manuscripts must not include any author information.
Entrants must also submit a separate document containing: their full contact details (name, email address, phone number); a biography under 250 words in length; and a list of previous published works, if applicable.
Both fiction and poetry categories have a first prize of $750 and a second prize of $500. Winners of the 2015 competition will be published in Small Axe 47 in July 2015. Entry is free. The deadline for entries is 31 May 2015.
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