The celebrated flash-fiction platform Ma Kẹkẹ is back with its latest writing contest and this time, the call for stories promises even more excitement.
Writers across Africa are invited to submit original 1,000-word stories (excluding title) based on the monthly prompt for a shot at publication and cash prize.
What’s Expected
To enter, participants must:
- Be African writers.
- Write a story of exactly 1,000 words, following the monthly prompt.
- Follow and engage with Ma Kẹkẹ’s social channels (@gemspread.publishing on Instagram, @gemspread_pub on X, plus TikTok and Facebook). Participants must share the contest post to their stories and repost on X.
- Submit via the official Google-form submission (not by e-mail).
- Submit within 48 hours after the prompt is announced.
- Agree that if selected as winner, the story becomes the property of Ma Kẹkẹ (with intellectual-property transfer after prize is awarded).
N.B: Multiple submissions are not accepted.
What’s at Stake
- USD 30 (or equivalent in local currency) for the monthly winner.
- Runners-up (2 stories): inclusion in the next quarterly issue.
- Exposure to a broader readership and community of African fiction fans.
- Publication in Ma Kẹkẹ Magazine.
What Ma Kẹkẹ Stands For
In Etsako (Southern Nigeria), Ma Kẹkẹ means “let us write” a double invitation.
One, it calls on creators to document and interrogate contemporary African life; two, it invites writers on a personal voyage of discovery.
The platform’s mission: publish powerful flash fiction that captures the African experience.
Their vision: become the continent’s hub for bold, experimental, and socially engaged storytelling.
Flash fiction thrives on urgency a thousand words like a photograph, a moment that hits deep and fast.
What’s Happening Now
The November prompt has officially closed, and submissions are currently being reviewed.
If you missed it, don’t worry the December prompt is dropping soon, and it promises to be just as inspiring.
Stay updated by regularly checking the Ma Kẹkẹ Instagram page:
Ready to submit? Explore more here