Submit Your Work
Every voice deserves a place in the record.
The Unsilenced Archive is a digital literary platform dedicated to discovering, preserving, and publishing voices from across Africa. We believe literature is more than art; it is memory, testimony, imagination, and cultural preservation.
What We Publish
Poetry
Prose
- Up to 3 poems per submission
- No length restrictions per poem
- Short stories and flash fiction
- Limit: 3,000 words
Essays & Creative Nonfiction
Experimental & Hybrid Work
- Personal essays, cultural criticism, and reportage
- Limit: 3,500 words
- Cross-genre pieces, visual poetry, and fragmentation
- Limit: Writers discretion
What We Look For
We seek work that is urgent and honestly accomplished.
- Bold perspectives from the margins
- A deep engagement with language and rhythm
- Work that preserves oral histories or local mythologies
- Writing that reflects the complexities of contemporary African life
- Memory and Inheritance
- Migration and Displacement
- Silent Histories
- The Body and Sovereignty
- Afrofuturism and Reimagined Pasts
This list is not exhaustive. Surprise us.
Submission Guidelines
- All submissions must be original and previously unpublished in any digital or print format.
- Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
- We accept submissions only from writers of African descent (living on the continent or in the diaspora).
- Only one submission per category per reading cycle.
- Submissions must be written in English or include an English translation.
Formatting Requirements
- Format: .doc, .docx, or .pdf
- Font: Standard serif font (Times New Roman, Garamond, etc.)
- Layout: Double-spaced for prose and essays; single-spaced for poetry
- Personal Info: Please include a short bio (max 150 words), your social media handles (optional), and your country of origin/residence in the cover letter section.
Rights
First Serial Rights: The Unsilenced Archive acquires the right to publish the work first in our digital platform and annual anthology.
Subsequent Rights: After publication, all rights revert to the author. We ask that the Archive be credited in future publications of the same work.
Archival Rights: The Archive retains the right to keep the work hosted in our digital records indefinitely for historical preservation.
Response Times
We aim to respond to all submissions within 8 weeks. If you haven't heard from us after three months, feel free to send a polite inquiry.
Annual Anthology
Selected works from the digital platform will be curated for our end-of-year print and e-book anthology. Authors of these works may receive a small honorarium and will receive a contributor copy. Participation in the digital archive does not guarantee inclusion in the anthology.
Our Commitment
Every voice deserves to be saved. We believe in the power of the overlooked story. The forgotten memory. The unsilenced voice. We are a community archive dedicated to the longevity of African letters. We are listening.