Victor Mecoamere

Victor Mecoamere

Young writers can once again use the yearly Johannesburg Literary Festival (Jolife) as a platform to showcase their creative writing skills and talents.

This youth-development initiative of the City of Johannesburg's Library and Information Services is organised in partnership with Sowetan. The newspaper has made the project a part of the Aggrey Klaaste Nation Building Foundation's youth and community development portfolio.

Jolife's theme this year is Traditions I Hold Dear. The initiative celebrates the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart, the iconic novel by Nigerian literary legend Chinua Achebe, to inspire young people to write about traditions that guide them in how they live their lives and interact with other people.

Entries should reach the organisers by October 31. Age categories are 13 to 15, 16 to 19 and 20 to 25. Short stories should not be more than 2000 words. Entrants writing poetry should stay true to the genre. Their poems must have a maximum of 700 words and contain no vulgarity.

For both the short story and the poetry submissions, originality of thought is encouraged. Translations from other sources are discouraged.

It is also essential that entrants stick to the theme. Only typed or neat, handwritten scripts will be accepted by the organisers. The competition is only open to the residents of the City of Johannesburg.

For further information, you can telephone Tsakane Shiburi at 011-226-0952 or Maryna Moolman at 011-226-0937 or e-mail tsakanis@joburg.org.za, or marynam@joburg.org.za.