Writers, poets or creative young people aged between 13 and 25 and living in the Johannesburg area are invited to take part in the Johannesburg Literary Festival, also called JoLife. It is a youth development initiative of the City of Johannesburg, wRite Associates, Sowetan and the Aggrey Klaaste Nation Building Foundation.

Writers, poets or creative young people aged between 13 and 25 and living in the Johannesburg area are invited to take part in the Johannesburg Literary Festival, also called JoLife. It is a youth development initiative of the City of Johannesburg, wRite Associates, Sowetan and the Aggrey Klaaste Nation Building Foundation.

JoLife gives young Joburgers an opportunity to showcase their literary capabilities and to enhance their literary knowledge, and its related projects include workshops and a writing competition

The theme is Pride in Yourself. It is inspired by the life and philosophy of black consciousness icon Steve Bantu Biko and reflects the positive belief that youth should have in themselves and also the principles for which they should stand.

Submit stories of not more than 4000 words on about four pages. Poems should not exceed 700 words and must be restricted to two pages. Neatly-typed submissions can be in English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, Setswana, Sepedi, Siswati, Xitsonga and Tshivenda.

Prizes include portable laptops, book gift vouchers and certificates.

l Entry forms are obtainable from all libraries in the Joburg region and can also be downloaded from www.joburg.org.za