Call for Applications: CANEX Book Factory - 2025 Programme Apply Now

The CANEX Book Factory is an annual programme of interventions in the African continent's book industry. It is part of Afreximbank's Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) initiative and is designed to showcase the exciting landscape of Africa's literary output, from its creators, publishers and its distributors.

The CANEX Book Factory hopes that each of these interventions will empower emerging writers and their publishers and distributors with firm knowledge of the publishing landscape in the continent and worldwide.

The CANEX Book Factory has three programms two of which you can apply for:

1. The Creative Writing Workshop

2. The CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa 

3. The CANEX Book Factory Newsletter

Details of each program are below. Please read these carefully. The information will be important during registration for the program: 

1. CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

Embark on a literary journey with the CANEX Creative Writing Workshop which has been tailored for prose writers of African and Caribbean descent from the continent and its diaspora. In partnership with Narrative Landscape Press Limited and annual guest writers of literary renown, we offer a nurturing ground for enhancing narrative skill and understanding the business of writing. Be part of a community that celebrates and elevates African narratives.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS;

Authors/Writers must be African or Caribbean to qualify to submit their application to the writing workshop.

The authors/writers must submit a 500-word sample of their writing and a personal statement of purpose by pasting it in a textbox. 

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Register via the link on this page

20 successful writers will be invited for the residential 10-day workshop.

Please email questions about your workshop applications to the Workshop Admin here: canexworkshop@narrativelandscape.com

2. CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa

To qualify for the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa, books must be originally published by African publishers situated in Africa. 

The publication date should fall within the eligibility window of the preceding calendar year, commencing on January 1 and concluding on December 31.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Publishers may submit four (4) trade books for the prize, defined as books intended for a general audience and widely accessible through libraries and bookstores. 

These include fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in both hardcover and paperback formats. Textbooks, academic books, and coffee-table books for niche readerships are excluded.

Publishers seeking to submit a fifth book must contact the Prize administrators directly. They are required to address the following:

Does the book's quality support its consideration for the prize?

Is the book otherwise eligible for the prize?

How many books does the publisher release annually? Publishers with more than 10 titles per annum may be considered for a second submissions

It is important to note that all information provided by publishers during the petitioning process will be treated confidentially, and the Prize administrators will communicate their decision directly to the publisher. 

No additional documentation is necessary beyond written responses exchanged via email.

 The following are eligible:

Trade books in English, French, Arabic, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, and any African language, initially published in Africa during the eligibility year.

Full-length books of fiction and nonfiction.

Collections of short stories or essays by a single or multiple authors.

Collected and selected poems by a single or multiple authors.

Self-published books, provided the author/publisher also publishes titles by other authors. The Prize administrators may request the publisher’s catalogue for verification.

The following are NOT eligible:

Books published through self-publishing platforms and services, such as Kindle Direct Publishing.

Reprints of books from previous Prize years.

Reprints of books initially published by publishers outside Africa.

Licensed titles/books first published outside Africa.

Submission Process

Submitting titles for consideration involves a two-step process:

1. Complete the entry form. First select the number of entries you plan to make to a maximum of five (5). Include evidence of incorporation as a publishing company. Carefully review the eligibility criteria. Your application to submit will be considered using these criteria.

2. After receiving confirmation of eligibility to submit to the Prize, send digital and hard copies of the title(s) listed in the entry form to administrators and judges (see the section below for details). 

Only publishers are eligible to submit titles. All communications about submissions must be conducted directly between the publisher and the Prize Administrators to maintain an ethical wall between the Judges and publishers. The publisher is responsible for informing authors and creative collaborators about the entry of their book for the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa.

The CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa shall maintain correspondence with the individual who completed and submitted the entry form. Publishers are to ensure that the email address used in filling the form is working and responsive.

There is no entry fee for submitting a book for Prize consideration.

EVALUATION PROCESS:

The chair of the judging panel may request, through the Prize administrators' office, for titles not submitted by their publishers. The prize administrators may then invite these publishers to submit these titles for consideration, assuming they meet eligibility requirements. Submission in such cases is at the discretion of the publishers.

For each submitted title, publishers are required to send BOTH a digital copy and four hard copies to guarantee consideration. Publishers must send:

1. A digital copy (in PDF format) via the process outlined in the confirmation email sent after completing the entry form.

2. Four hard copies of each book: one copy for the Prize administrators’ office, and one for each of the three judges submitted to the prize administrators by courier or priority mail. Information on the prize administrators' address for this correspondence shall be included in a confirmation email sent to publishers after they complete the entry form and are accessed as eligible to submit for the prize.

Deadlines: digital copies must be received by the Prize administrators’ office by 5:00pm CAT on the respective deadline, and hard copies must be postmarked by the same date. 

Please also note:

Digital copies and hard copies of submitted titles should be sent as soon as they are available.

The panel of judges is not obligated to consider a title if copies are provided after the deadline but may consider the title at its discretion.

Prizes:

A single panel of three Judges, with expertise in the official languages of the African Union (AU), namely English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swahili, including a panel chair, is chosen by the CANEX Book Factory.

The CANEX Book Factory will announce a Longlist of ten books on a designated date as announced in the annual CANEX BooK Factory programme.

The CANEX Book Factory will announce the five Finalist books on a designated date as announced in the annual CANEX BooK Factory programme.

The Winner will be announced at the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa Awards Ceremony during the year's CANEX Summit or CANEX WKND event.

The Winner will receive a prize of $20,000. Each Finalist will receive a prize of $2,000. The Winner and the Finalists are obligated to share 10% of their prizes with the author/s of the winning books.

 Additional Conditions:

All publishers submitting books for the CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa must agree to:

If selected as Finalists, share 10% of their prize money with the author/s of the winning books.

If selected as Finalists, they must agree to send a representative to the CANEX Book Factory Prize Award events. Travel costs will be borne by the CANEX Book Factory.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY