The Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature 2025
📖 About The Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature 2025
The Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature 2025 is an esteemed contest that honors original, one-act stage plays from writers across the globe. The prize is named after Kenyan-born writer and critic Alexander Nderitu, who will personally select the winner.
Key Dates
- Date Published: September 08, 2025
- Application Deadline: November 15, 2025
Highlights
- Longlist Announcement: December 2025
- Shortlist Announcement: February 2026
- Winner Announcement: April 2026 at a literary event
The 2024 winner was Nigeria’s Haliru Ali Musa for his short story, The Pregnant Ghost.
🎁 Benefits
The winning playwright will receive:
- Cash Prize: Kshs 50,000
- One-Year Online Promotion Campaign
- Featured on the cover of The African Griot Review magazine
✅ Eligibility Criteria
Territories
- Open to writers anywhere in the world, aged 18 and above
Language
- All entries must be in English
- Translations and adaptations are not eligible
Work Requirements
-
The entry must:
- Not be optioned, commissioned, performed, or previously published (including online)
- Be approximately 15 minutes long (a minute of dialogue equals roughly one page of script)
- Be submitted without the playwright’s name appearing anywhere on the document
- Be an original work with no collaborators
- Avoid plagiarism and assistance from Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools
-
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but notify the organizers if your work is published or staged elsewhere during the judging process.
Submission Guidelines
- Writers may submit up to three different plays
- Standard Stage Play format is recommended (free guide available here)
Entry Fee
- None
📩 Application Process
All entries must be submitted in Adobe PDF format to:
submissions(at)theafricangriot.com
Email Subject
- ‘2025 Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature Submission’
Email Body
Include the following information:
- Title of your play
- Your full name
- Your nationality
- Your age
- Your daytime telephone number
- Your preferred email address
- A brief bio (300 words max)
Attach your short play as a PDF document (ensure no identifiers are included in the attachment).
🗓 Application Deadline
November 15, 2025
🏆 Selection Process
The judge’s decision is final. The winning entry will be published in The African Griot Review.
For more details, visit The African Griot Review.
- The winning playwright will walk away with a cash prize of Kshs 50,000.
- A one-year online promotion campaign.
- Grace the cover of The African Griot Review magazine.




