The Grand Prix Panafricain de Littérature is here!

The Grand Prix Panafricain de Littérature, the most ambitious pan African literary prize yet, is open to all African writers wherever they are who write in French and English.

There is a new literary prize for writers on the African continent to take up called the Grand Prix Panafricain de Littérature. The new award comes from a very unlikely organisation; the African Union. For many years, the African Union has had wonderful plans to revolutionise the continent it is part of. One of these speaks about the importance of culture in the fabric of our societies;

“Culture must occupy a central place in the political programs of nations because it plays a major role in the development of peoples. This is the conviction of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union who very early on made the commitment to “ensure that the development of policies adequately takes into account the socio-cultural values of Africa in order to strengthening our cultural identity. ”
(Lagos Action Plan for Africa, 1980-2000).

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi took over as the new head of the African Union in 2021 and within weeks had unveiled the ambitious new initiative. The Grand Prix Panafricain de Littérature is intended to recognize an author from the continent who has produced a remarkable work in prose or verse touching on fiction (novel, short story, theater, tale, poetry). For the first edition, no theme is imposed on the participants. The works must however reflect the great values ​​enshrined in the Charter of the African Union, such as solidarity, pan-Africanism, peaceful cohabitation of peoples.

The management of the Pan-African Book Grand Prize is entrusted to the Association du Grand Prix Panafricain de Littérature, within the Congolese Ministry of Culture in Kinshasa / DRC, a structure called upon to manage the prize in close consultation with other associations representing African writers.

This prize will be awarded in November on the occasion of the International Day of the African Writer. French and English have been selected as languages ​​for the first edition of this competition which will see the winner be awarded to African leaders at the summit of Heads of State.

Click here for more information about rules and all the rest of it. They have a Facebook page too. Get to it folks.