Writers love competitions. There’s the creative stimulus of an interesting prompt, the promise of kudos and validation, and of course publication and prizes. The Syllabis iAfrikana contest is a new writing competition, writing short stories and poetry with a focus on the African bushveld. It launches in January 2022 and runs to final submissions with a closing date of 31 May 2022.

Syllabis presents its first Poetry /Prose Competition. The aim is to give young people the opportunity to express themselves in a public forum, take part in a poetry slam and a creative writing workshop.

Creative writing is any form of writing that breaks the boundaries set by traditional writing techniques such as journalistic or academic writing. Writing, in its earliest form was seen as a form of communication, and to this day that is still one of its main purposes, but over the years people have found such joy in exploring the more creative aspects of writing. People realized that writing does not have to remain a formal means of communication but it could be used to express feelings, emotions, and most importantly creativity!

If you are looking to take your writing to the next level, then entering our writing competition will help you to achieve this.

The goal of the competition is to help promote the writing aspirations of all school-going students.

The panel of judges comprises 3 members, all qualified English / Afrikaans educators with a passion for literature.

Who is eligible:

1. All Syllabis Learning Registered Students that are currently registered with our institution.
2. Students from any registered school in South Africa including all students that study from home.

Some competitions ask for a story on any topic, up to a set word count. But if your parameters are too broad, comparing stories is very hard: How do you judge a 200-word flash against a 5000-word novella?

• We will set a 3 000-word limit for short stories and a 36-line limit on poetry
• Theme – South African Bushveld

What do I stand to win?

1. At initial selection, we select 5 semi-finalists from the received submissions.
2. The 5 semi-finalists travel via shuttle (Safarilink) to a beautiful game lodge situated in the gaming region of Hoedspruit and stay at the wonderful Toro Yaka game lodge.
3. If minors, they are accompanied by 1 parent if requested. If over the age of 14, the dedicated teacher will be responsible for their wellbeing. Terms and conditions will be provided beforehand.
4. Semi-finalists and any guardians stay on-site, all expenses paid for 2 nights, attend 2 game drives, recite the meaning of their short story during the evening “Boma” storytelling session, and get judged by 3 specialist English / Afrikaans literature educators.
5. Winners will be announced in August 2022.
6. Prizes: 
   1. If the winner is a Syllabis learner, their entire education up to grade 9 is funded by Syllabis learning, grade 10 – 12 students get a R20 000 rebate against their studies with Syllabis Education.
   2. If the winner is a non-Syllabis Education student, they win: Prizes to the value of R20 000.

How can I Register?

1. For Syllabis Education students, log in to your learning portal and upload your submissions. Submissions are limited to 3.
2. For all other students, please complete the entry form found on this link https://syllabiseducation.com/syllabis-iafrikana/ or simply send your completed work to iafrika@syllabiseducation.com after mentioning the competition on Social Media.