WINNERS
CREATIVE NONFICTION CATEGORY —
Winning Piece:
The King's Men are Generals
by Courtney Samuel. 1st Runner Up :
Purpose Beacons
by Adama Felix Ekene 2nd Runner Up :
To Be or Not To Be
by Ibezim Emily Chika 3rd Runner Up :
Masked
by Ogochukwu Tricia Onwaeze 4th Runner Up :
The Pursuit of Purpose
by Chiamaka Rita Nwaokolo
SHORT STORY CATEGORY —
Winning Piece:
When We Dared to Dream
by Damilola Seyi 1st Runner Up:
The Other End of the Cuffs
by Okeke Ifunanya 2nd Runner Up:
Nigeria Happened to Me too
by Emmanuel Faith Olatayo 3rd Runner Up:
Love, Habibi
by Ella Ngwakwe 4th Runner Up:
The Country That Gave Nothing But Took Everything
by Fatima Mohammed 5th Runner Up:
The Jollof Experiment
by Josephine Ogunniyi 6th Runner Up:
Cascade
by Edidong Udoh 7th Runner Up
There Are Powers at Play
by Emmanuel Uchendu-onu
Congratulations to all winners!
All pieces will be published in March. Participants whose pieces did not make the list should please expect an editorial review of their piece via email, in the coming weeks.
For questions, send a DM via Instagram/Facebook or email support@thepennacle.com
Short Story Category(Fiction)
Word Limit — 2,500
Theme — Nigeria Happened to Me Too
Registration closed. Winners to be announced 29th January, 2024.
Write and send us a short story on the theme; Nigeria Happened to Me Too. This theme is entirely open to interpretation.
We are looking for stories that can make us laugh or cry or think about things differently. Send us a concise, well-edited story in line with the theme, having a compelling plot line and solid character(s).
Prizes
-
N 200,000
-
Interview and publication in Pennacle's coming quarterly Literary Magazine
-
Publication in Pennacle's upcoming annual Anthology
-
Developmental Mentoring
-
Publication in Pennacle's upcoming annual Anthology
-
Detailed editorial Review
-
1 Year Promotion of any produced work
All participants
Editorial Feedback
For participants who do not make the winners or runners-up list, we will do our best to provide specific editorial feedback on what we loved about the submission as well as why you were not chosen and what areas you should work on.
Creative Nonfiction Category
Word Limit — 3,000
Topic — The Pursuit of Purpose
We are now accepting submissions for the creative nonfiction category of the Pennacle's Prize for Good Literature.
Send us a 3000-word essay on the topic; The Pursuit of Purpose.
This topic has been left vague so that you can approach it from any angle and with a style and creativity of your own. Feel free to interpret the topic as you see fit. Our concern is that you present a writing that is good — in terms of message, style, presentation and creativity.
Prizes
-
N 200,000
-
Interview and publication in Pennacle's coming quarterly Literary Magazine
-
Publication in Pennacle's upcoming annual Anthology
-
Developmental Mentoring
-
Publication in Pennacle's upcoming annual Anthology
-
Detailed editorial Review
-
1 Year Promotion of any produced work
All participants
Editorial Feedback
For participants who do not make the winners or runners-up list, we will do our best to provide specific editorial feedback on what we loved about the submission as well as why you were not chosen and what areas you should work on.
Contest Guidelines
1. Submit only one entry
2. Give your piece a unique (creative) title
3. Provide a short Bio of yourself (suitable for publication) of 300 words or less.
4. Submit your piece in PDF
5. Please do not write your name or personal details anywhere in your PDF as this competition is judged anonymously.
6. Titles are not included in the word count
7. Your piece must be previously unpublished
8. For the creative nonfiction category, consider providing an outline of your piece
9. Please submit only one entry per category.
10. The entry fee for each category is N 3,000 only. If you wish to participate in both categories, please make separate submissions. This means you will fill out the submission form and make payments twice.
11. The word limit for the short story is 2,500, and the word limit for the creative nonfiction is 3,000. No fewer and no more.
12. All entries must be previously unpublished and should be double-spaced with 14 pt font and above.
1. Entry fee is final and nonrefundable
2. You may use any of the payment options provided by Paystack, however, we advise you first consider card payment for a more glitch-free process.
3. Your Entry will be ignored if you attach more than one submission in the same PDF.
4. Once submitted, an entry cannot be recalled or edited.
FAQ
About These Contests
The short story and creative nonfiction contests are part of a 3–category series in the Pennacle's Prize for Good Literature.
This literary prize has been curated to promote exceptional writing by new and emerging writers. Our quarterly magazine — where winning pieces will be published, is dedicated to celebrating artistic brilliance in multiple art forms and giving voice to unique and underrepresented ideals. As such, we seek bold, [positively] triggering, and authentic pieces that can inspire deep thought or spark real conversations about change, truth and hope. This is what we consider good literature.
As for our ethics, we uphold the utmost moral code in conducting our contests and penalise any unethical behaviour on the part of our readers, judges and editors.
By entering these contests, you agree to transfer any right or reproductions of your work to Pennacle, upon acceptance of your entry.
All updates regarding these contests will be shared on our social media platforms.
Selection Process
1st Round — Blind reading by category editors + forwarding shortlist to contest judges.
2nd Round — Blind reading by contest judges.
Winning Pieces will be announced in January. Specific Date will be revealed soon.