Writer Stanley Onjezani Kenani has teamed up with fellow Malawian writers to form an online short story site similar to UK’s Wasafiri, US’ Granta and Kenya’s Kwaani is here.
Dubbed malawiwrite.com, the website is founded to aid the publishing of Malawian short stories—showcasing them to the worldwide audience with Internet access.
The initiative is being spearheaded by the likes of former Malawi Writers Union (Mawu) presidents Kenani and Steve Sharra, veteran writer Shemu Joyah and BBC correspondent Raphael Tenthani.
In a Facebook interview on Friday, Kenani said the website will be up by Christmas.
“Though the website is primarily for Malawian writing, we welcome short stories, poems, book reviews and essays from any writer across the continent. Short stories should be between 3 000 and 10 000 words, and poems should have no more than 50 lines each,†said the Caine Prize nominee.
He disclosed that any short story or essay published will earn the author US$100 (about K32 000) while a poem is pegged at US$25 (K8 000).
“Emphasis is on quality. Only good works will find their way to the site,†said Kenani, urging aspirants to email their works to stanleykenani@yahoo.com.
