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Call for Submissions: We Are Deathless: An Afropoetry Anthology
Aren’t you tired already? In 2020, Africa remains under the boots of Western imperialism. In 2020, #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag that still needs trending all over the world. Black immigrants were baselessly accused of spreading the coronavirus in China. The narrative surrounding the black identity remains a single story of strife and pain. Edited by Wale Ayinla and Kanyinsola Olorunnisola, We Are Deathless: An Afropoetry Anthology is poets’ response to that.
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We are aiming for a new narrative with a multitude of black voices speaking their truths in unison. Blackness is no monolith; it exists in various forms and we want works that acknowledge its cultural, religious, ideological and sexual diversity. We want work that provokes; we want work that is experimental; we want work that is loud and boisterous; we want work that is calm and quiet. Hit us with your best shot. 
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While our theme is the black identity, we are open to work that only dances around the subject. After all, even our ordinary, non-socially conscious works are political in a world that seeks to drown out our voices. The title is inspired by Deathless, a song by Ibeyi an Afro-French Cuban duo.

Eligiibilty & instructions

●      Submission is open only to writers who identify as black: this includes Africans, African Americans, Afro-Caribbean people etc. Blackness is an expansive identity and everyone is welcome regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender identity or geography. 
●      Writers can submit up to four (4) previously unpublished poems enclosed in a single Word document—typed in Times New Romans, Font 12, and single-spaced—to afropoetryanthology@gmail.com. 
●      The subject of the email should read Your Last Name – Afropoetry Anthology e.g Ayinla – Afropoetry Anthology.
●      Please include the following details in the body of the e-mail: Full Name/Pen Name, Title of Poem(s), Nationality, E-mail Address, Phone Number and brief bio of between 50 and 150 words. None of these should appear in the document itself.
●       Only poems written in English are eligible for submission. While we would appreciate the infusion of native languages in the service of decolonization, the poems must be written in a way that allows our English-speaking editors to grasp their meanings.
●      With the definition of “poetry” increasingly changing, we are open to every style you can think of: pop poetry, haikus, voice note transcripts, rap bars, spiritual chants, hypertext, erasure etc. You can play around with form and surprise us.
●      Submissions are open from October 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
●      The anthology will be published in a downloadable PDF format on www.sprinng.org in February.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

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Wale Ayinla is a Nigerian writer.

His works recently appeared or are forthcoming on 
Guernica, South Dakota Review, The LitQuarterly, Cimarron Review, Slipstream, Ruminate Magazine, McNeese Review, Waccamaw, Poet Lore, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere.

​He is a staff reader for Adroit Journal. A Best of the Net and Best New Poets Award nominee, & in 2019, he was a finalist for numerous prizes which include the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry, and his manuscript, 
Sea Blues on Water Meridian was a finalist for the inaugural CAAPP Book Prize.


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Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Popula, Gertrude, Barren Magazine, The Account, Jalada, Bakwa, Bodega and elsewhere.

​His debut chapbook, 
In My Country, We’re All Crossdressers, was published in 2018 by Praxis.

His manuscript, 
The Negroverse Theory, was a finalist for the 2020-2021 Glass Chapbook Series. Among others, he won the 2020 K&L Prize for African Literature, the 2017 Fisayo Soyombo National Essay Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2019 Koffi Adddo Prize for Creative Non-Fiction. ​

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE SPRINNG 2021 BROCHURE

Copyright @SprinNG 2020
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  • Publications
    • Anthologies
    • Book Reviews
    • Interviews
  • Submissions
    • We Are Deathless
  • Fellowship
  • Contests
    • Monthly Bookstore Gift-card
    • Annual Poetry Contest
    • SWAP >
      • SWAP 2020 Winner
  • SprinNG Lit
  • Nigerian Writers Database
  • About
    • Annual Report
    • Donate
    • Quicklinks
  • New Page