Cassava Republic Press is set to make a groundbreaking literary stride as it unveils the inaugural $30,000 Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize, slated for launch on October 26, 2023.
This prestigious award, according to The Bookseller, is open to both emerging and established Black women writers, encompassing cis, trans, and genderqueer individuals worldwide, with a keen focus on unpublished non-fiction manuscripts of the highest calibre.
The mission of this unique prize is to honour and publish the voices of Black women from Africa and the Afro-diaspora, concentrating on thought-provoking concepts spanning various times and geographies.
The esteemed panel of judges, composed of Black women writers and scholars from Africa and its diasporas, will soon be revealed.
The grand prize, generously supported by private equity fund manager Alitheia Capital and Open Society Foundation Africa, offers the winner not only $20,000 but also a publishing contract with Cassava Republic Press. To acknowledge the exceptional talents of the shortlisted writers, two runners-up will each receive a $5,000 advance along with a promising publishing deal.
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, the Publishing Director, expressed her pride in launching this groundbreaking prize, emphasising its role in bridging a long-standing gap in the literary world. She underlined the prize’s alignment with Cassava Republic’s overarching vision of becoming a global Black publishing house, amplifying the voices of Afro-descendant writers from around the globe, following in the footsteps of literary luminaries who have paved the way for future generations.
