The African Land Policy Centre has issued a call for short stories on the theme of land governance, justice, and reparations for Africans and descendants of people of the African diaspora.
Submission Deadline: 13 September 2025
Introduction: The organizing team of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA) – a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank is inviting African creative writers to re-imagine land governance in Africa by submitting short stories as part of the November 10-14, 2025, Conference outcomes. We are seeking stories written by African writers located on the continent or in the African diaspora. African youth are strongly encouraged to submit their stories.
Background: The Conference theme aligns with the African Union theme for 2025, which is “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.’’ The theme provides an opportunity for the African citizenry and the African diaspora to build a common position in the pursuit of justice and reparations for historical crimes and mass atrocities committed against Africans and people of African Descent, including through slavery, colonisation, apartheid, genocide and neocolonial practices.
African land, African natural resources, and the African people have for centuries been targeted by other nations for the provision of raw materials and labour. During the transatlantic slave trade, African men and women were kidnapped and sold off to work without pay and under inhuman and extremely harsh conditions in plantations, construction, and industries. They created wealth for slave owners and the countries in which they were enslaved, working under inhuman and intolerable conditions. Enslaved Africans were denied the right to own property.
The short stories will show, through the lens of characters and sensitivity to landscapes, the effects of slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism on land in Africa and the imperative of seeking justice, restitution, and reparations for Africans and their descendants. The stories will interrogate questions such as: How did slavery shape land issues in Africa and the diaspora? What were the effects of colonialism on land ownership, access to land, and food security? How can urban planning and growth be fixed to serve African communities better? How can land governance be developed to enhance justice for Africans?
Themes: The short stories are expected to be grounded in African perspectives, present or possible realities and futures as seen through the experiences of the African people and the opportunities and challenges of land governance in Africa. They should capture the imagination around land issues confronting the African continent by looking at the past, the present, and the future. They will address land tenure and equity challenges in Africa, climate justice in the context of the ecological impacts of the climate emergency, agri-food systems, urbanisation, settlements, trade, and economic injustice. At the core of the short story will be land and how it plays out in the lives of the African people. Short-listed entries will be published in the second Anthology of Short Stories on land in Africa to be launched at the Conference on Land Policy – CLPA 2025.
Submission Guidelines:
Genre: We invite you to explore imaginative narratives culled from the following genres:
Afrofuturism, Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Fantasy, Speculative fiction, Suspense, YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Crime, and Literary Fiction.
Submission Language: English or French. We welcome translations from any language spoken in Africa into English or French.
Number of words: Written short stories should not be fewer than 2,000 words and should not exceed 3000 words.
Number of entries: We will not accept more than one entry per submission.
Submissions: All submissions must be the original work of the author and not generated by AI. We welcome translations, so do let us know if your work is translated from another language. Stories that have been published elsewhere (online or in print form) are welcome. However, do let us know so that we can seek publishing permissions. If you plan to submit to multiple outlets, please let us know.
Keep it Simple. Short stories should be in double space and in 12 font Times Roman and not more than 3000 words.
Submission Deadline: 13 September 2025
Where to Submit: Introduce yourself and attach your submission in Microsoft Word and send it to eca-info@un.org with the subject: Short Story Submission: Land Governance for Justice and Reparations for Africans and Descendants of People of the African Diaspora
Next Steps: All submissions will receive an acknowledgement. Selected authors will receive a follow-up email with an invitation to participate in a pre-conference workshop to enhance their submissions. The final edition of the Anthology of Short Stories on Land will be finalised at the end of 2025 and published in early 2026.
The final edition of the second Anthology of Short Stories on Land will be finalised at the end of 2025 and published in early 2026.
Leave a Reply