Call For Submissions: Mismemories: Contemporary Writing from Queer West-African Voices

Produced by A Third Space in partnership with CHEVS 

Mismemories is an anthology curated and published by A Third Space under its Long Story Project, in partnership with CHEVS  

For this anthology, we are looking for LGBTQIA+ contemporary fiction and nonfiction writers exploring love, desire, class, ambition and the ways queerness in West Africa runs parallel to the region’s evolving socio-cultural landscape. We want stories that sit in the fullness of life, that challenge what it means to be queer today, stories that surprise, or reveal new worlds that expand the ones we think we already know.  We want stories that explore the small moments; the first date, the first day in a strange city, an unexpected encounter that challenges a character’s perspective about their world and identity. We want stories that dissect the domestic; moving in with a lover, sheltering from otherness with chosen family. And we’re not averse to stories that explore big socio cultural concerns through the eyes of well drawn, full formed characters. More than anything, bring us into your world and your city; show us its landscapes and invite us into everyday customs.

With this collection, we hope to broaden how queerness in West Africa is understood and to offer a lasting record that expands our understanding of culture and belonging, while giving emerging and established queer literary voices a new platform to grow their bodies of work.

A high priority will be placed on writers from countries historically underrepresented in the wider literary establishments such as  Benin, Mali, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Liberia. Alongside voices from more widely published counterparts such as Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria. 

Mismemories will be published digitally on a microsite and in a limited print run, published and distributed in partnership with Elekere Press. Once published, A Third Space will curate a slate of programming to bring the stories to life through readings and small-scale productions of the stories included in the anthology.

Submission Guidelines

• This call is open only to West African LGBTQIA+ persons aged 18 and above, who are from and currently reside in a West African country. 
• Your safety comes first. Anonymous submissions under a pseudonym are welcome.
• We are accepting fiction and nonfiction. Please submit to one genre only. While literary fiction is preferred, genres such as speculative and fantasy are more than welcome.
• Submission window: Francophone countries ( Benin, Mali, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Cabo Verde, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Guinea): August 10th – September 30th

•  Anglophone countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia): August 24th –  September 30th

Please do not submit before your region’s window opens. Early submissions will not be considered, and submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis. 

• All entries should be within the range of 1,500–3,000 words in length. 
• Submissions in French are welcome. Only ensure to include a short descriptor of the piece in English alongside your submission.
• Submissions should be made through (form link here) 
• All contributors featured in the anthology will be paid an honorarium of $100, and all works used in any A3S programmes will also be compensated.
• If you have any questions, kindly reach out to us via email: hello@athirdspace.co