PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine’s ‘Spoiling The Broth’ Short Story Competition Returns
Following the successes of PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine’s ‘Spoiling The Broth’ Volume 1, 2 and 3 anthologies, which saw a total of 35 aspiring authors unearthed through the monthly short story contest, the competition is set to return with a bang in November 2024.
Once again, we hope to unearth at least two writers a month over a period of 12 months, who will then go on to form part of the 2025 Spoiling The Broth anthology Volume 4. Already, the editing and publishing process of Volume 3 has begun, which boosts a total of 15 writers.
The PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine Short Story Competition was officially established in December 2021, and started operating in January 2022. Monthly, we invite writers to submit short stories of between 1800 and 2500 words, under a theme of their choice. The stories are then posted on our Facebook page and on the website, and readers vote for the best story for the month. The story that obtains the most votes (PEOPLE’S CHOICE) wins R500, while the PUBLISHER’S CHOICE AWARD is worthy a whooping R1000.
While the writers and their works are exposed to the 18 000-plus following our page has amassed (new followers join the page daily), the stories are exposed to an even bigger audience as every writer is allowed to canvass for votes and advertise his or her story on various platforms, exposing the page to an even bigger audience monthly. The winners are then featured in our monthly issue of the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary magazine, giving them further publicity and assisting them to build themselves into brands.
In-between, we offer mentoring programs, based on the areas we identified to be lacking in each writer’s work. Writing tips are also posted on the page regularly, as well as other worthy calls for submission from various other art and craft organisations. Already, this mentoring program has produced published authors such as Anathi Kom, Zeripah Amoni Phiri and Matumelo Mafoko. All three were published by PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Adopt-An-Author Program.
While the competition has unearthed writers from every corner of the country, the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine has gone a step further. Through the magazine, we have brought to the fore hidden talent from various parts of the country, that no one would have known about had the magazine not been established. We also invite established authors, artists and other established creatives to give tips on anything from writing, publishing, entrepreneurship (using your art as a business), building yourself into a brand etc.
People who have honoured our invites include American author Eve Fairbanks, Nhlanhla Ngema of Sarafina and Broadway’s The Lion King fame and founder of Keeloz Global Entertainment, and Kirsten Miller who won the prestigious international writing competition, the Niso Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for 2016. She is also the author of six books. We have also had the courageous Tshidi Monkoe, author of Prison Love, gracing our pages, best-selling authors Takalani M and Busisekile Khumalo, and poetry connoisseur Frank Meintjies.
Look out for the calls for submissions set to be announced in November. In the meantime, put pen to paper and craft those stories that seek to redefine Africa’s narrative.
You can order the previous volumes from any of your favourite authors who are part of the anthologies, or contact PUBLISH’D AFRIKA directly at info@publishdafrika.com, or WhatsApp +2783 487 4440.
Spoiling The Broth – A PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine Anthology
It is said that too many cooks spoil the broth. This broth, comprising of writers unearthed through PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine’s Short Story Competition, seeks to shatter this myth.
Spoiling The Broth Vol.1-3 are multi-themed collections of new short stories by authors from across the African continent. They were all monthly winners in tightly contested short story writing competitions that were held since the competition was established in 2021.
The magazine’s monthly competition draws over 2000 writers from across the continent with each call for submissions. Each story in the anthologies is distinctly African, the characters brutally honest and relatable and the narrative geared at redefining Africa’s narrative.
The books, Volume 1 and 2 of Spoiling The Broth, were released mid-April 2023. Volume 3 will be published in March 2025.
PUBLISH'D AFRIKA 