Application Deadline: on Friday, 27 February 2026 (12:00 GMT)
LOCATION: United Kingdom
The 2026 AKO Caine Prize Award for African Writing is open for application. Entries must be submitted by a publisher. This includes publishers of physical and digital books, literary journals, magazines, and arts-oriented websites.
ELIGIBILITY:
The story must have been published in the five years preceding the submission deadline. For 2026 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 27th February 2021 and 27th February 2026.
Entries must be between 3,000 and 10,000 words in length
Writers must be over 18 years of age at the time of submission.
Self-published and unpublished short stories are not eligible.
Publishers are encouraged to submit multiple short stories as long as they do not submit more than one story by the same author.
Stories may only be entered for consideration for the Caine Prize for African Writing once. Unfortunately, this means that you may not resubmit a story for consideration, even if it was not selected for the shortlist.
Genres not eligible for entry include novels, children’s stories, factual writing, academic essays, plays, poetry, autobiography/biography, and any work that does not constitute a fictional short story.
Submissions must specify which African country the author comes from and the short story word count.
Publishers must obtain the consent of the author before submitting the short story.
When submitting digitally published short stories, kindly provide a PDF version. Alternatively, you may instead provide a PDF containing a link to the publication.
Submissions that do not meet the above criteria will not be eligible for the prize. If you have any questions or queries regarding our eligibility criteria, please email: submissions@caineprize.com we will be happy to assist!
By submitting a story, publishers and writers agree to the conditions outlined above in the criteria, as well as those below in the Frequently Asked Questions section and Google Form. Shortlisted candidates will receive separate terms and conditions.
BENEFIT:
Up to £10,000 cash prizes are available to be won
