Writers and poets who wish to take part in the second edition of the Ghana Writers Awards could do so from April 14 to Sunday, May 14, 2017.
Five literary genres comprising Short Story, Spoken Word, Poetry, Literature Blog, and Topic-Given Poetry contest are the categories in the second edition.
The awards will be judged by 10 judges from three continents across the world who are experienced and award winning writers in the categories being considered for the 2017 edition.
Ghana Writers Awards is a literary prize instituted by some young Ghanaians to celebrate and promote Ghanaian writers and literature.
The award, is the only nationally competitive literary prize instituted to recognize the role of unpublished Ghanaian fictional writers and other forms of the literary arts in the country.
The prize was borne out of the need to promote reading and writing in Ghana and by extension increasing the number of Ghanaian published writers.
A statement signed by the Vice President of the awards, Mr Kingsley Kojo Antwi, said there would be separate categories for students in Junior High School, Senior High School and tertiary levels.
Similarly, he said, there would be other non-competitive prizes for individuals and institutions that had contributed to the development and promotion of the Ghanaian literary arts industry.
He said the 2017 edition will be held on the theme: “My arts my life: creating more opportunities for the youth in the literary arts industry in Ghana”.
Mr Antwi, however, has called on benevolent individuals and organisations that would wish to support or partner in the organisation of the 2017 awards to contact the management of the awards.
He has also advised writers and poets who wished to enter the competition to send their works on time.
GUIDELINES FOR THE 2017 GHANA WRITERS AWARDS
How to enter:
To participate in this contest, entrants are required to read all instructions and rules regarding this award. There are no fees associated with any entry. However, in order to be eligible, writers must meet all the criteria outlined below.
(1) Any entry shall be e-mailed to gawardssubmissions@gmail.com. The first page of any entry shall contain the following information: the category of work, the entrant’s name, e-mail address, phone number, region, and a computer word count of the work.
(2) By participating in the Ghana Writers Awards (GWA) contest, each entrant represents and warrants that:
(i) The submission is original to the entrant, and all right, title and interest (including but not limited to copyright) therein and thereto is exclusively owned and/or controlled by the entrant to the full extent necessary.
(ii) The submission does not contain any material that is libelous, defamatory, profane or obscene.
(iii) The submission does not contain any material that promotes racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;
(iv) The submissions shall be deemed to be submitted by the authorised account holder of the e-mail address associated with the entry.
Eligibility rules
- Published work is not eligible for the 2017 Ghana Writers Awards.
- Submissions should be made by the writer to the official email address provided: gawardssubmissions@gmail.com. However, those without email address may do so through a family member (spouse, mother, father, teacher or guardian).
- Only a fictional work is eligible for the 2017 Ghana Writers Awards.
- Only a story per writer will be considered in the short story category. However, poets are required to send three different poems with each poem not more than 30 lines.
- Published works in any form, including personal blogs, online, magazines, and newspapers are not eligible in the 2017 Ghana Writers Awards.
- Apart from the specified works (poetry, short story, spoken word, literature blog, and topic-given poetry contest) any other literary genre is not eligible in the 2017 Ghana Writers Awards.
- Any entry should be saved with the surname of writer plus the genre one is entering (e.g Poetry: Amankwah or Short Story: Amankwah or Topic-Given Poetry:Amankwah, Blog: Amankwah). The font type should be Times New Roman, and double spaced. Document should be saved in PDF format. All document should have page numbers.
- The Topic-Given Poetry Contest is for only students (JHS, SHS, and Tertiary). This category consist of three separate slots for the various levels of education. It has its own rules, which will be outlined below.
- All works which do not conform to the outlined guidelines will be rejected.
- If you are not clear about any information regarding the eligibility process, please email us through: ghanawritersawards@gmail.com.
SPOKEN WORD CATEGORY
- Entrant is entitled to only one submission.
- Performance should not be more than five minutes
3.There should be a relationship between visuals and theme
- Well edited video with clear sound
5.Works can either be an individual performance or a collaborative performance
6.The video should be on Compact Disc only (CD)
- Aside English language performance, entrants are to include sub-titles in the video of any vernacular expression (s).
- Indicate title and duration of video
- Indicate your name, email address, and contact number on the script to be attached with the CD.
- Attach a script of the performance (the message)
- Package your CD in a brown envelop and deliver it to Helen Selorm at the Ghanaweb Office at Dzorwulu near the Fidelity Bank. You can reach her via 0504027141.
NOTE: this category is different from the poetry category and has its own rules as indicated above.
TOPIC GIVEN CONTEST: (Write a poem on illegal mining and its effects on the environment)
- This category will follow the same rules for the poetry category with the exception of the following:
- It is for only students in Junior High School, Senior High School, and Tertiary levels.
- Those in the same educational levels will be judged on the same scale (e.g, JHS category, SHS category, and tertiary category).
- Indicate your level of education and name of school or academic institution.
- Only ONE poem is expected from each entrant.
NOTE: this category will not follow the rule four (4) of the poetry guidelines.
LITERATURE BLOG CATEGORY
- Submit the link of your blog to the official email for the contest.
- Each blogger is entitled to only one blog
- A blog should not be less than one year in existence as of the time of this competition
- At least 60 per cent of the content on the blog should be original to the blogger
- A blog should at least have not less than 20 posts as of the time of this competition
- Title (s) of content (s) on the blog which is/are not original to the blogger must be indicated
- Unsourced content or plagiarized works will be disqualified.
- Blog should be active
- Write a short note on the rationale behind the creation of your blog
- Adherence to the protocols of good blog features will be an advantage
By Solomon Mensah|3FM|3news.com|Ghana