Afro descendants wanted for the African Diaspora Award 2024. Participants submit an original, unpublished work in English, including short stories, flash fiction, nonfiction essays, poetry, or visual art. Prizes up to $1000 USD for top winners along with publication in Kinsman Quarterly's literary journal and the upcoming anthology, Black Butterfly: Voices of the African Diaspora.

​

Submissions must be received by June 30, 2024 and should feature themes that are rich in culture. Selected finalists will be featured in the Kinsman Quarterly, its social media sites, printed promotions, and 2024 anthology. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, however submissions should be withdrawn if accepted elsewhere. To ensure that we are able to publish the unpublished work, winning contestants and finalists are asked to wait a full year after winning announcements before they republish the work themselves or with another organization. Copyrights of the individual submissions remain with the authors and artists, and copyrights for the anthology as a collection are reserved to Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc.

​

Those Eligible

• individuals 18 years or older

• literary or visual artists of African descent (preferred, but not limited to)

• individuals able to receive cash prizes through Paypal (transfer through other platforms not allowed). Runner-up finalists receive Amazon gift cards (non-transferable).

​

By submitting an original, unpublished work, contestants authorize work to be published in the Kinsman Quarterly, its annual anthology, within its promotional announcements, and social media outlets.

 

Contest Guidelines

• Each entry should be an original, unpublished work by the submitting author, which does not infringe upon the copyrights of another individual or entity. If a work is found to be plagiarized, the offending contestant will be liable for all costs related to the plagiarism, including legal liabilities and the return of any winnings. 

• Employees and directors of Kinsman Quarterly and Kinsman Avenue Publishing are ineligible to enter Kinsman Quarterly contests.

• Submissions must be received by June 30, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

• Submissions should feature themes related to African culture or subculture; including, but not limited to, a  cultural history, past/present family dynamics, customs, spirituality, myths and/or beliefs, cultural art, community challenges, etc. 

• Participants may submit more than one entry. 

• Changes to the competition entry cannot be made once a work is submitted. However, the work can be resubmitted as a revision. 

 

Genre Guidelines:

• visual art piece, collection, or 1-min video

• short stories (1000-5000)

• flash fiction (up to 1000 words)

• creative nonfiction (up to 1000 words)

• poetry (1 to 5 poems or up to 10 pages)

 

Formatting Guidelines

• All text entries must be in Times New Roman, font size 12, double-spaced. 

• Text files should be submitted in .doc, .docx, or .pdf formats. (NOT a .txt file)

• Multipage submissions must include page numbers (not mandatory for title pages)

• Be sure to remove all track changes from edited text. 

• Visual artwork must be submitted as a high resolution .jpg or .png file.

• Video submissions for visual art entries must be in .mp4 format.

• Entries that do not adhere to guidelines, unfortunately, will not be considered. 

 

Available Prizes

Each writing genre (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art) is represented in the top four winning placements, however those winners compete for the one grand prize. 

• Grand Prize = $1000 cash prize and publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

• 1st Runner Up = $300 cash prize and publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

• 2nd Runner Up = $200 cash prize and publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

• 3rd Runner Up = $50 cash prize and publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

• Top 6 Finalists receive a $25 Amazon gift card and publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

• 6 Honorary Mentions to receive publication in the Kinsman Quarterly and annual anthology

 

Note that cash prizes will be received within 30 days of the author's signed confirmation to accept the win and publish with Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc.. Kinsman Quarterly reserves the right to extend competition deadline (therefore also the announcements and prize distribution) by 30 days.