Mark your calendars for February 14, 2025, as G.T. Dípè releases her highly anticipated New Adult Contemporary Queer Romance titled “Runnin’ No More”

“Two men, two countries, one chance to stop running—from their pasts, their fears, and from love itself.”

Synopsis 
For twenty-three-year-old Teniade Adeowo, love feels like a crime, even though it shouldn’t be. Escaping the law and his trauma in Nigeria, he arrives in England, determined to leave everything behind. But Ade quickly learns that no matter how far you run, the things you flee from often find a way to follow as his journey takes an unexpected turn when his path crosses with Stefan Wickström’s at Heathrow Airport. Stefan is no stranger to running from his own pain. He leaves Sweden, believing that the only way to stay ahead of his misery is to keep moving. But everything changes when he encounters Ade, whose silent intensity and guarded demeanor halt Stefan in his tracks.
In a world where love feels like an unaffordable gamble, Ade and Stefan must decide whether their fragile connection will break them or be what they need to finally heal.

“Runnin’ No More” is a poignant and gripping narrative following the intersections of love, identity, and survival. It features richly drawn characters and a heartfelt storyline that crafts a romance as wonderful as it is timeless.

Where to Get Runnin’ No More

• Nigeria

Selar 

• Sweden

Bokus

Adlibris

• United Kingdom

The Great British Book Shop

Amazon UK

• United States of America

Bookshop(dot)org

Barnes & Noble

Magers & Quinn

Thriftbooks

Amazon

AbeBooks

• Finland

Adlibris

• Spain

Agapea

• Norway

Adlibris

• Denmark

Saxo

• Australia

Booktopia

Fishpond

• Germany

Dussmann

JPC

• South Korea

Yes24

Ebook also available on Amazon worldwide: USA, UK, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Italy, France, Netherlands, Canada.

More information is available on the author’s website at www.gtdipe.com

About the Author:

G.T. Dípè is an emerging voice in contemporary queer fiction, known for her emotionally resonant and lyrically crafted storytelling. With a remarkable ability to explore the complexities of identity, love, and survival, Dípè creates narratives that linger long after the final page. As a citizen of Nigeria, where homosexuality remains criminalised, Dípè draws inspiration not only from the imagined worlds of her characters but also from the lived experiences of those who dare to love beyond society’s restrictive norms. Her work sheds light on the lasting consequences of Nigeria’s homophobic laws and advocates for their abolition. In her debut novel,  Runnin’ No More, Dípè continues to amplify underrepresented voices within queer literature, offering readers a rich mosaic of stories that celebrate resilience, unspoken truths, and the transformative power of love.

Read: How to Self-Publish Your Novel

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Dzanc Books has announced Zambian author Mubanga Kalimamukwento as the 2024 Dzanc Prize for Fiction Winner. 

The author impressed the judges with her compelling narrative, which intricately explores themes of intimate violence, betrayal, and resilience within patriarchal societies. Intertwined with tenderness and moments of hope, the novel showcases Kalimamukwento’s ability to craft characters and stories that resonate deeply with readers.

Set in Zambia, Shipikisha tells the story of Sali, a working mother of three on trial for the murder of her husband, Kasunga. She allegedly shot him after a heated fight in their bedroom. Through a braided narrative woven both before and during the trial, Sali navigates her husband’s infidelities and alcohol-filled nights, their money troubles, her postnatal depression, raising her teenage daughter Ntashé, and an attempted abortion in silence. Until the day her marriage finally fails to endure—shipikisha, considered the ultimate dereliction of wifely duty in Zambia. Until the day she speaks her mind, and Kasunga puts a gun in her face.

Kalimamukwento is a Zambian attorney, editor and writer. She is the author of The Mourning Bird , unmarked graves , Obligations to the Wounded and Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies  She is the founding editor of Ubwali Literary Magazine, a current Miles Morland Scholar and a PhD student and Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) scholar at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Earlier this year, she also won the prestigious 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize for her short story collection, Obligations to the Wounded. She also won the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award in 2019.

Kalimamukwento’s work highlights significant issues affecting communities, particularly in African contexts while offering universally relatable themes. The Dzanc Prize for Fiction, which supports innovative and socially impactful writing, is awarded annually to a writer whose project demonstrates unique potential. As the 2024 recipient, Kalimamukwento will receive a cash prize and a publishing contract with Dzanc Books, further solidifying her position as a powerful voice in contemporary literature.  Dzanc Books will publish Shipikisha, Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s award-winning novel, in March 2026.

Congratulations to Mubanga Kalimamukwento. 

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The Miles Morland Foundation Announces 2024 Writing Scholarship Winners.

In October 2024, the Miles Morland Foundation revealed the shortlist for its annual writing scholarships, showcasing exceptional literary talent from across Africa. From over 500 submissions, four outstanding writers have been selected as this year’s recipients of the prestigious award.

The 2024 Miles Morland Writing Scholarship Winners are:

• Carey Baraka (Kenya)
• Fayssal Bensalah (Algeria)
• Yvette Ndlovu (Zimbabwe)
• Frances Ogamba (Nigeria)

Scholarship Proposals by the Winners:

• Carey Baraka (Kenya): Baraka will write a nonfiction account of the Shakahola cult killings, exploring the lives lost, survivors’ stories, and the socio-political factors fueling religious extremism in East Africa.
• Fayssal Bensalah (Algeria): Bensalah’s project is a darkly absurd satire on colonialism and environmental devastation, chronicling a flamboyant French colonel’s surreal journey through 1950s Algeria.
• Yvette Ndlovu (Zimbabwe): Ndlovu offers an AfroSurrealist fable of resistance, following a journalist-turned-revolutionary in a fictional Zimbabwe haunted by the resurrection of its former dictator.
• Frances Ogamba (Nigeria): Ogamba’s speculative novel will follow a man whose memory is severed by a spiritual spell. Years later, a fatal accident helps him rediscover his identity. The work explores migration (the Japa phenomenon), memory, and the reclamation of African traditions through Igbo spirituality and ancestral justice.

Read: Tips to Increase Your Productivity as a Writer. 

Every year, the Miles Morland Foundation awards its writing scholarships to support African writers in producing the first drafts of their books. Each scholar receives a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over twelve months, to focus on their craft.

Previous recipients of this prestigious grant include:

Rafeeat Aliyu,

Mubanga Kalimamukwento,

Kiprop Kimutai,

and Remy Ngamije. 

Congratulations to the current winners. 

Also Read: How You Can Prepare for Competitions and Submissions.

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The 2024 National Book Awards winners were announced on the 20th of November, 2024. 

The National Book Awards are prestigious literary prizes presented annually by the National Book Foundation in the United States. Established in 1950, they recognize outstanding books in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. The awards honor authors who have contributed significantly to American literature. The ceremony is held every November and is celebrated as one of the most important events in the literary world.

Winners of the 75th Anniversary of the National Book Awards are:

• Percival Everett won the Fiction Award for his novel James, a powerful retelling of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Everett was also recently shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. 
• Jason De León received the award for Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling in the nonfiction category.
• Lena Khalaf Tuffaha took home the Poetry Award for Something About Living. 
• The Translated Literature award went to Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue, translated by Lin King.
• Finally, Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s Kareem Between won the Young People’s Literature Award.

The 2024 National Book Awards ceremony, held on November 20, celebrated the enduring power of literature to bring empathy and understanding during challenging times. These winners’ stories contribute to a deeper dialogue about race, identity, and the human experience.  Each of the winners in the five competitive categories received $10,000.

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Out of six shortlisted books, Samantha Harvey’s Orbital emerged as the 2024 Booker Prize Winner.

This groundbreaking  2024 Booker Prize Winner, Orbital,  follows the lives of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station over a single day, exploring the interplay between their mundane routines and the profound experience of observing Earth from space.

Judges have praised Harvey’s Orbital for its lyrical prose and imaginative scope. Samantha equally said in her acceptance speech:

“We are, as Carl Sagan says in his book Cosmos, ‘the local embodiment of a consciousness grown to self-awareness. We are star-stuff pondering the stars.’ I would add that we are also Earth-stuff pondering the Earth, and I think my novel is an exercise in that pondering. To look at the Earth from space is a bit like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself. What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves, and what we do to life on Earth, human and otherwise, we do to ourselves.”

Read: What Exactly is Thematic Concept in Fiction.

Judges recognize the novel’s concise yet expansive storytelling, achieving extraordinary impact in under 136 pages. This brevity and also its profound thematic depth set Orbital apart as a remarkable literary achievement. Orbital’s recognition underscores its literary excellence and timely exploration of human fragility and resilience, themes that resonate deeply in today’s global context. The winner was chosen from 156 books published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024. 

According to an article by The Guardian, Samantha Harvey’s book has entered the UK Bestselling list because of the win. This also makes it the first Booker novel to hit number one in the week of its win. 

The post Samantha Harvey is the 2024 Booker Prize Winner for Orbital appeared first on Creative Writing News.

Microsoft has unveiled a new book imprint, 8080 Books, to foster thought leadership in technology, business processes, and societal priorities like law, ethics, and policy.

The imprint’s name, 8080 Books, pays homage to the Intel 8080 microprocessor, a foundational element in Microsoft’s early history, and also reflects the company’s innovation-driven ethos.

8080 Books distinguishes itself with an accelerated publication process. It aims to release titles within three months of manuscript completion— faster than the standard of six to nine months. Unlike Microsoft Press, 8080 Books will explore broader societal and technological themes.

The first release, No Prize for Pessimism by Microsoft’s deputy CTO Sam Schillace, delves into the complexities of embracing technological innovation amidst uncertainty. The imprint’s second book, Platform Mindset by Marcus Fontoura, initially published in Portuguese, highlights the collaborative culture essential for building tech platforms.

While initially featuring Microsoft-affiliated authors, the imprint plans to include voices from outside the company. Notably, it is structured as a non-profit initiative, reinvesting profits into publishing or donating them via Microsoft Philanthropies.

With partnerships for print-on-demand and distribution, the imprint aims to position itself as a hub for impactful ideas, bridging the gap between fast-paced tech advancements and the often-slower publishing world. 

With a combined tenure of, well, let’s just say a long time, we’re both acutely aware of the rich well of talent at Microsoft from which we can draw upon and publish under the 8080 Books imprint over time. However, our intention is that we will seek to use this not just as a platform for Microsoft authors but also to showcase minds and ideas from outside of the company. 

While we are not currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts, our website does provide more details about our plans, such as evaluating out of print titles that we feel remain relevant to today’s leaders, and why we feel the time is right to launch this imprint. 

Brick & Mortar Books in Redmond, Washington, will host a reading and signing of 8080 Books’ first publication on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024.

Read: Ways You Can Be a Productive and Efficient Writer.

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The annual Ignyte Awards winners have been announced.

The Ignyte Awards, created in 2020 by FIYAH Magazine as part of FIYAHCON, celebrate diversity and inclusivity in speculative fiction. These awards honor traditional and self-published works across various categories. The awards process is designed to engage the speculative fiction community broadly: nominations are made by a jury of readers, reviewers, FIYAHCON staff, and previous winners. The top picks in each category are then voted on by the public.

Speculative Fiction is one genre that has so many sub-genres that it is hard to properly assess and categorize them all. If you’re interested in learning more about this genre, read this article explaining everything you need to know about Speculative Fiction. 

Here is the full list of the winners of the 2024 Ignyte Awards:

• OUTSTANDING NOVEL: ADULT

for novel-length work (40k words) Works intended for an Adult audience

 The Saint of Bright Doors – Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)

• OUTSTANDING NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT

for novel-length (40k+ words) works intended for the young adult audience

 I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me – Jamison Shae (Henry Holt & Co.) 

• OUTSTANDING MIDDLE GRADE

for works intended for the middle grade audience

 Abeni’s Song – P. Djèlí Clark (Starscape) 

• OUTSTANDING NOVELLA

for speculative works ranging from 17,500-39,999 words

 The Lies of the Ajungo – Moses Ose Utomi (Tordotcom)

• OUTSTANDING NOVELETTE

for speculative works ranging from 7,500-17,499 words

 Spell for Grief and Longing – Eboni J. Dunbar (FIYAH)

• OUTSTANDING SHORT STORY

for speculative works ranging from 2,000-7,499 words

 A Witch’s Transition In The City Of Ghosts – Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

• OUTSTANDING SPECULATIVE POETRY

 My Mother, she ate me – Akua Lezli Hope (FIYAH)

• CRITICS AWARD

for reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature

Alex Brown

• FICTION PODCAST

for excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction

Levar Burton Reads

• OUTSTANDING ARTIST

for contributions in visual speculative storytelling

Rovina Cai

• OUTSTANDING COMICS TEAM

for comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling

 Kill Your Darlings – Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, Bob Quinn (Image Comics)

• OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS

 No One Will Come Back for Us – Premee Mohamed (Undertow Publications)

• OUTSTANDING CREATIVE NONFICTION

for works related to the field of speculative fiction

 The Magic is in the Roots: Cultural Reconnection Through Magical Realism – Lysz Flo (FIYAH)

• THE EMBER AWARD

for unsung contributions to genre

Sheree Renée Thomas

• THE COMMUNITY AWARD

for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre

 Khōréō – The Khōréō Team

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Ignyte Awards. You can learn more about them and the award on FIYAH magazine’s social media page. 

Read: How to Edit Your Work. 

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Winners of the 2024 South African Literary Awards have been announced. 

The South African Literary Awards, or SALAs, is an annual award ceremony organized by wRite associates in partnership with the national Department of Arts and Culture in 2005. It aims to celebrate and pay tribute to South African writers and award literary excellence in depicting and sharing South Africa’s stories.

Read: How to Get Story Ideas Readers Will Enjoy.

The Award, divided into different categories, celebrated the beauty of South African writing. Here is the list of the 2024 Winners of the South African Literary Awards:

Children’s Literature Award winners

• Kwazi Ndlangisa – Vukani Kusile
• Deidré Jantjies – Stories in die wind

Youth Literature Award

• Kobate John Sekele – Ba Kwa Ka Letlalo
• Nellie Alberts – Reg in die middel van nêrens

First-Time Published Author Award

• Mafika Jetro Mahlangu – Umrhayili
• Bonga Matu – Thula Mama Thula: Big Girls don’t Cry
• Sinethemba Simlindile Bhila – Hawu Mfundisi
• Lwando Dlephu – Amava Ahlabahlosile
• Beauty Maretsane Madihlabe – Ke tlo mo palediša

Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award

• Sihle Qwabe – The Resurrection

Poetry Award

• Fhulufhelo Ntsieni – Rudzani
• Sithembele Isaac Xhegwana – Dark Lines of History

Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award

• Dawn Garisch – What Remains

Creative Non-Fiction Literary Award

• Sihle Khumalo – Milk the Beloved Country

Novel Award

• Barry Gilder – At Fire Hour
• Jabulane Johan Ncongwane – Lifa Letilima
• Sithembile Mputa – Unyana Wolahleko
• SJ Naudé – Van vaders en vlugtelinge
• Kabelo Duncan Kgatea – Tsamaya sentle ‘tata’ Mandela

Literary Translators Award

• Misokuhle Nyathikazi – Ntofo-Ntofo
• Michiel Heyns – The Dao of Daniel
• Vonani Bila – Khanimamba N’wantlhadyana na Mbila
• Eben Venter – Decima

Lifetime Achievement Literary Award

• Kanakana Yvonne Ladzani – For her Body of Work

Literary Journalism Award

• Gugulethu Mhlungu
• SAFM (SABC English radio station) – The book reading programme

Congratulations to all the winners. 

Also Read: Increase Your Productivity as a Writer with These Tips.

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Ten writers across Africa and the Diaspora have been selected for the 2025 LOATAD Black Residency.

The Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) has announced the writers selected for the 2025 Black Atlantic Residency. Supported by the Hawthornden Foundation, this edition focuses on African Solidarity. It highlights contemporary and historical movements, advancing social and economic justice in Africa and the Diaspora. If you want to learn how to add African themes to your writing, read this. 

The selected writers for the 2025 LOATAD Black Residency include: 

• Roger Robinson (UK)
• Jaimee A. Swift (USA)
• Keston K. Perry (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Lori L. Tharps (USA)
• Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza (Zimbabwe)
• vangile gantsho (South Africa)
• Nzube Nlebedim (Nigeria)
• Noor Salah Elfaki (Sudan)
• Abdulrazaq Salihu (Nigeria)
• Denoo Edinam Yawo aka Poetic Siren (Ghana)

Read: Tips on How to Be an Eloquent Writer. 

About the LOATAD Black Residency

The Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) Black Atlantic Residency is a residency program that brings together writers of Africa and the African Diaspora to work on a common theme. It is designed for writers and researchers from the African diaspora interested in exploring African history, literature, and cultural connections across the Atlantic. The residency offers selected participants time and space to work on projects that reflect the diaspora’s shared history and interconnected stories.

During the residency, writers have access to LOATAD’s extensive collection of African literature and resources and the opportunity to engage in discussions, workshops, and cultural exchange with Ghanaian creatives and scholars. This residency is an enriching opportunity to deepen creative work in a supportive environment, fostering connections within the global African diaspora.

Learn more about the 2025 LOATAD Black Residency participants and programme here. 

You Should Also Read: Where to Find Creative Writing Spaces

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The Black Warrior Review Magazine has announced Hussain Ahmed as the BWR’s 2024 Poetry Contest winner. 

In a post on social news platform X (FKA Twitter), the Black Warrior Review announced Hussain Ahmed as the winner for his poem “Song of Summer.” The award-winning writer, Donika Kelly, and University of Iowa professor selected the poem, calling it “inviting.”

Hussain Ahmed wrote in his artist statement:

“The poem examines how repetition enhances or alters the concept of the African drums and celebrations. The Yoruba chorus in the poem was the nucleus for what became the Song of Summer. It was also partly because I am interested in the colorful nature of the many Nigerian cultures.”

BWR will publish Song of the Summer in issue 51.2, available in early 2025.

Read: Ways to Make Money from Writing Poetry.

Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist, known for his collection Soliloquy with the Ghosts in Nile, which was a 2023 honoree by the Society of Midland Authors and a finalist for the Luchei Prize for African Poetry. His second collection, Blue Exodus, won the 2022 Orison Poetry Prize. Hussain’s work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review, Electric Lit, A Public Space, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati.

About the Black Warriors Review Magazine

Established in 1974 by graduate students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Black Warrior Review is named for the river that borders the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The city, the river, and the magazine all derive their names from the 16th-century Indigenous leader Tuskaloosa (also spelled “Tushkalusa”), whose name comes from two words of Creek or Choctaw origin—Tasca, meaning “warriors,” and lusa, meaning “black.” 

BWR publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and art twice yearly. Contributors include Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners alongside emerging writers.

Also Read: How to Analyse a Poem.

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