Nsemia Inc. Publishers announces 2063: Kenya at100 Short Story and Essay Contest that will run in the months of December 2011 and January 2012. The contest intends to task writers’ imagination and thought to paint a picture of the country at 100 years of age.
Predicting the future has its dangers, but writers are encouraged to take creative license and imagine the journey to the 100th birthday of the country: its socio-economics, politics/freedoms, urban/rural society, pastoral/farming/working life, the family, relationships, marriage,divorce, births, deaths, child/ health care,, education system,science/research/technology/inventions; the young/old, name it! Think of how Kenya would have changed and the society that it would become.
Writers are free to choose their style of presentation (persuasive,comparative, descriptive, narrative or otherwise) dictated by scenes, events,places, personalities, conditions and the like. Writers’ aim is to tell aninteresting, logical story that grips readers’ attention. Preference will begiven to short stories and essays that are believable with high creative elements,readable, and able to hold the interest of the reader; stories that paint acomprehensive picture the state of life of the time.
Theawards for the winning five essays are $1000, $750, $500, $250 and $100,respectively. In addition the top five winners will be offered publishing contracts for book length versions of their essays and short stories. The next 20 essays will be published an anthology 2063:Kenya at 100 Perspectives. We are actively seeking sponsors to broaden theaward categories as such more awards will be announced as we get respective sponsors.
The contest report will be published as a book of between 100 and 150 pages,featuring the top 25 contestant profiles and abstracts of their short storiesand essays. Other report content will include a historical background of Kenya and developments to date, highlighting major milestones in the making of the Kenyan nation.
Further,the report will have short history the Kenyan literary scene and ongoingtrends; and opinions on the future of Kenyan literature in the face of globalization. A few chosen works from the Kenyan literary scene and (whererelevant) from outside the country will be featured.
Thereis limited advertising space for entities wishing to advertise in the contestreport.
Opportunitiesfor participation include being a sponsor, a contestant or a judge/reviewer.
Proposed categories for sponsorship include Top Female Contestant; Top Contestant Under 18 ; Top Urban Contestant; Top Urban Contestant Over 18 ; Top Contestant from rural Kenya; Top Contestant from the Diaspora ; Top Contestant from the Diaspora under 18; Top Male Contestant over65 years and Top Female Contestant Over 65 years; Top Contestant on the subjectof the girl child
Interested parties can get further information, including contest rules, sponsorship information, advertising and entry form from Nsemia Inc
The contest closes on January 31st, 2012.
