1.  Introduction  

This is an annual short story writing competition that accepts fictional stories from Malawians of ages ranging from 16-35. The inaugural competition was in 2021 and the 2022 is the second edition of the competition. In a society where the reading and writing culture is slowly fading, this competition is meant to revive the same and as well as provide writers with a platform to showcase their talents. 

While last year had an open theme, this year the theme will be limited to stories that talk about Malawian culture and society with the aim of telling our stories and contributing to preserving our cultural heritage through told folktales. The hope is that these stories can share the experiences of a Malawian in both the contemporary and old Malawian society. 

The short story competition was announced on 21st April, 2021 last year with a sponsorship of MK500, 000 from Bradley and Teely Financial Consultants. A second anonymous sponsor added MK125, 000. Winner, Emmanuel Kaison from Lilongwe won MK200, 000 and was announced at a ceremony at Golden Peacock Hotel in Blantyre.  

This year the competition will run from July to October, 2022 and the winning story will be awarded one million Kwacha. 

2. Nominations and Winning Prizes  

Unlike in last year’s competition where we had ten nominations and five winners, the second edition will have seven nominees and three winners prized as follows; 

1. 1. Winner- One Million Kwacha (MK1,000,000) 
   2. Second Prize- Three Hundred Thousand Kwacha (MK300,000) 
   3. Third Prize- Two Hundred Thousand Kwacha (MK200,000) 

3. Important Dates  

The competition will take place from 25^th July to 15^th October, 2022 with the following key dates; 

3.1. On Thursday, 28^th July, 2022 the competition will be announced and opened to the public to start sending stories.  

3.2. On Friday, 5^th August, 2022 a call for judges will be announced. 

3.3. On Friday, 26^th  August judges of the competition will be announced 

3.4. On Sunday, 28^th  August the competition will stop receiving short stories (deadline)

3.5. Between Monday, 29^th August and Monday, 26th September judges will review stories and submit their best stories to the chief judge. 

3.6. On Monday, 3^rd October 7 nominated short stories will be announced to the general public.  

3.7. On Monday, 3^rd October, the venue and date of the prize ceremony will be announced. 

3.8. On Saturday, 15th October, winners will be announced at a ceremony.

4. Instructions of The Competition 

The short story competition accepts short stories from Malawians who are resident in Malawi at the time they submit the stories. The following are the eligibility rules to submit a story; 

4.1. Story must be on any topic but touch on African and Malawian culture and society.

4.2. The winners of the previous competition are not eligible to submit their stories.

4.3. Short story must be not less than 2,000 words but not exceeding 3,000 words.

4.4. Entrants must be aged between 16-35 at the time they submit their story.

4.5. Entrants must be a Malawian citizens resident in Malawi.

4.6. Story must be in century gothic font, font size 12 and line spacing 1.5 submitted in PDF.

4.7. Story must be the entrants original story not published in any form before 29 August, 2022.

4.8. Submitted document must have the entrants name, title, phone number, age and email address.

4.9. Story must be in English and meet all rules of grammar and academic literature.

4.10. A story that does not meet all of above rules will be disqualified.

5. Submission  

Click on this portal and follow instructions to submit not later than 28^th August, 2022 midnight. Late submissions will not be entertained. ONLY stories submitted via the portal will be entertained.