Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry application opens

 The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is awarded annually to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry.

The African Poetry Book Fund Editorial Board, including Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, John Keene, Gabeba Baderoon, and Bernardine Evaristo, will judge.

A winner will be announced in early January.The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal.

ELIGIBILITY

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection.

This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.

An “African writer” is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African.

Only poetry submissions in English can be considered. Work translated from another language to English is accepted, but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.

No past or present paid employees of the University of Nebraska Press or Amalion Press, or current faculty, students, or employees at the University of Nebraska, are eligible for the prizes.

DEADLINE

The 2016 Prize is open to submissions! Manuscripts are accepted annually between September 15 and December 1st.

RULES

No entry fee is required to submit to the contest.

Poetry manuscripts should be at least 50 pages long.

The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript. All entries will be read anonymously. Please include a cover page listing only the title of the manuscript (not the author’s name, address, telephone number, or email address).

An acknowledgements page listing the publication history of individual poems may be included, if desired. No application forms are necessary. 

Eligible writers may submit more than one manuscript.

While there is no specific formatting rules,  manuscript can either be in Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point font, single-spaced. 

 Preferably one poem per page, meaning a new poem does not begin on the same page on which another ends.

 The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets accepts electronic submissions ONLY

Visit here for application details.

BODA BODA LOUNGE PROJECT 2016: OPEN CALL

#BODABODALOUNGEPROJECT2016

The Boda Boda Lounge Project is a cross-continental video festival that will feature at over 15 spaces throughout Africa between the 18 – 20 November 2016. Boda Boda Lounge Project is currently accepting video art submissions from artists based in Africa and of African descent. Relevant submissions will be put forward for intercontinental screening and exhibition programming.

The Boda Boda Lounge project is based on the conviction that video art can create exchanges between different contexts in Africa that allow both the transcending of physical boundaries and the creation of an intimate atmosphere for introspection and contemplation.

In this year of the second iteration of Boda Boda Lounge, 2016 sees the bending of terrorism torn borders, threats of the building of walls and increasingly squeezed spaces for progressive thought and political leadership worldwide. This state of urgency limits our agency over space and ability to define it in ways that are inclusive and open. Such a belief requires we dare a different reading of space, its scope and its limitations, but also to discover the interstitial spaces, to open up unsuspected pores, to drag along new fluidities, to experiment with new elasticities and, in short, to imagine alternative channels of fluxes, crossings and entangling of energies and meaning.

In redefining space we propose to look down and through rather than around us. Based on the metaphor of the stack of layers, this year’s theme highlights the ability of the artist to excavate, bend and twist spaces. It is to these spatiotemporal crosses the edition 2016 Boda Boda Lounge invites by choosing as theme SuperPosition, an archeology of the present.,

Beyond the simple technique gesture to overlay the video elements (superpose), we seek video works for the Boda Boda Lounge project to show the artist's responsibility to stand outside video’s elements and reorganise them in order to better convey its narrative. The 2016 Boda Boda Lounge will exhibit video art works that burrow into the future, like an archaeologist.

The Boda Boda Lounge Project is a collaborative project between VANSA (South Africa), Waza (Congo DRC) and VAN Lagos (Nigeria). It intends to enable wide access for African artists to be part of the festival and to enable a wide range of African arts organisations to take part. It is an engagement with low cost, widely accessible exchange processes on the African Continent.

The project will take place on the same date for 3 days in a number of the venues (Hosting Hubs) across the continent.

Deadline October 13th, 2016.

Visit  http://vansa.co.za/Projects/boda-boda-lounge/boda-boda-lounge-project-2016-open-call

National Touring Status Grant by Australia Council for the Arts, Deadline October 4th

NATIONAL TOURING STATUS GRANT

This Grant supports Australian organisations with demonstrated national touring experience, to program tours from 2018-2020. The Grant focuses on the opportunities to develop and engage regional and remote audiences through established partnerships with presenters.
Depending on what is appropriate to audience engagement plans and regional and remote presenters, proposed locations for touring can be either:

the same location each year of the touring triennium
a different itinerary plan for each year.
Applicants awarded a National Touring Status Grant will not be eligible to submit applications to Playing Australia - Regional Performing Arts Touring Fund for tours that take place between 2018-2020.

Applicants may apply for up to $400,000 per annum over three years.

We strongly advise you to speak with an Australia Council grants officer before applying to this fund.


Closing date
Midnight, 4 October 2016, for tours starting after 1 January 2018

Who can apply

We accept applications from organisations.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for a grant if:

you received a grant, or administered a grant, from the Australia Council in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
you owe money to the Australia Council.

What you can apply for

You can apply for:

interstate net touring costs, including freight, transport, accommodation and travel allowances outside of your home state
a contribution towards tour coordination expenses.

What you can’t apply for

You can’t apply for the following activity:

projects where the performers and artistic personnel are not paid at Award rates
projects that are to tour an international production
touring projects that only include capital city or metropolitan presentations
touring projects that do not include three or more interstate locations
touring projects that only include presentations in schools
tour dates that have already taken place
projects with a budget in surplus
core costs, for example wages and other costs associated with running the organisation

Peer assessment

Your application will be assessed by a panel of peers. The peers will be representative of a range of areas relevant to performing arts touring, including:

regional audience engagement and presentation
performing arts production
tour coordination and management.

Assessment criteria

Peers will assess your application against four criteria:

Region

The regional and remote coverage of the three year touring program.
Quality

The national touring track record of the applicant
The selection rationale for determining which productions are most appropriate for the touring program.
Engagement

The audience development plan
The value of additional activities, for example workshops and masterclasses
How partnerships will be developed and maintained with presenters throughout the three year period.
Viability

Strength of planning
Realistic budgets
Organisational capacity to deliver the project
Your application

Applications for the National Touring Status Grant via  http://australiacouncil.gov.au/funding/new-grants-model/national-touring-status-grant/

APPLICATIONS FOR BITCH MEDIA 2017 FELLOWSHIP FOR WRITERS CLOSES SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2016.

#BitchMediaFellowship

Bitch Media, an independent, nonprofit feminist media organization now in its 20th year, is pleased to announce the Bitch Media Fellowships for Writers, a series of three-month intensive writing fellowships whose goal is to develop, support, and amplify emerging, diverse voices in feminist, activist, and pop-culture media. The program will be directed by Bitch cofounder Andi Zeisler.

Bitch Media’s mission is to provide and encourage an engaged, thoughtful response to mainstream media and pop culture. We strive to be a fresh, revitalizing voice in contemporary feminism, one that welcomes complex arguments and refuses to ignore the contradictory and often uncomfortable realities of life in an unequivocally gendered world. We publish the award-winning magazine Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, daily online articles and opinions, weekly podcasts, and offer lectures and workshops around the world through Bitch on Campus.

We are pleased to kick off the second year of our fellowship program. We seek fellows who are passionate, engaged, and interested in developing their unique voices for these four fellowships, each of which pay a stipend of $2,000 for the three-month period.

Fellows will work with Bitch Media during one of the following four quarters:

January 1 – March 30
April 1 – June 30
July 1 – September 30
October 1 – December 31
Fellows will work in one of four subject areas during the fellowship period:

Reproductive rights & justice
Pop-culture criticism
Technology
Global feminism
During the 3-month fellowships, our fellows will:

Produce a minimum of six online articles for Bitch Media in the topic area of their fellowship. These pieces can take a variety of forms: reported, analytical, advocacy-focused, even infographic, and are least 600 words in length.
Produce at least one longform article to be published in the quarterly magazine Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture.
Participate in biweekly discussions (by phone or Skype if fellows cannot meet in person) with the fellowship director and other members of the Bitch Media staff.
Receive mentorship and support in creating, shaping, and editing articles and blog posts.
Receive follow-up support with placing future articles and essays, and make great connections within the feminist-media community.
Have access to the Bitch Media library, which houses more than 2,000 books on feminist theory and activism; gender, race, and queer studies; pop-culture criticism, and social-justice history.
Receive a $2,000 stipend for the three-month fellowship.
Who should apply?

This fellowship was created in order to cultivate and amplify new voices. If you are a writer who has minimal publication experience, we strongly encourage you to apply. If you are passionate about one of the above subject areas but do not have a history of writing or blogging about them, we strongly encourage you to apply. If you are a writer still figuring out what subjects obsess you, we strongly encourage you to apply.

This is not a full-time position, but an independent fellowship designed for writers who want to develop confident, well-rounded voices and are particularly interested in feminist criticism and mission-driven journalism. Fellows may be based globally, and U.S. citizenship or residence is not required to be a fellow. Writers who have contributed to Bitch before will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Bitch Media is an independent 501(c)3 organization and an equal-opportunity employer. We seek a variety of perspectives and encourage applications from qualified writers of any age, race, color, gender, religion, ancestry, disability, marital status, and sexual orientation. We hope that our fellows will be able to find a community among their co-fellows and the staff of Bitch Media.

Visit https://bitchmedia.submittable.com for more information

My heartbreak with Morris Chestnut #Rosewood

#HaveYouSeen

#Rosewood Season 1

The song keeps replaying in my mind making me toss, sleepless and had no choice than to keep alive the memory of that magical dance.

A dance bringing to life the deepest hidden feelings of all, a dance of physical presence yet of love making in disguise and right there I fell in love with tears in my eyes, it was a dance ascertaining what two hearts felt for each other and hid behind the code of friendship conduct. A dance that bares it all on the table with the question ‘do we pursue this feeling?’ and 'Yes we can',  as the eyes talked.

The score ignites more feelings as I entangled in the moments of the table setup for a great date, dressing up to match the moment he knocked, his presence at the door, the fire burning in me to see two worlds resolve with kissing , caressing and alas! his words (splashed with water and shocked), who does that #ROSEWOOD?, not on such date ,my heart collapsed (oh no! not my world, my H-E-A-R-T).

Morris Chestnut has always been a man after my heart, he knows how to treat women in his life( talking from experience with his related films and TV series). He shares a perfect bond of intimacy with them which always seem so close to reality (except for his woman in Legends, wonder why?). He earned my greatest respect in The Bestfriend film series with his flood of emotions towards his wife and bestie (couldn’t be more happier seeing them both in Rosewood as bestie), if I need to recommend a man that will have in-depth bond with his woman for a film or TV series ,I’ll will go for Morris Chestnut anytime, his acts are way beyond acting ( definitely I will get my turn someday soon though I can’t say about the height, oh yes! Nothing is impossible. With the new shoes in town I can elevate my height to match his *winks*)

So much for #RosewoodWomen, we both know Detective Annalise that our night was full of tears and sleepless toss but thank you so much for that outburst. My advice ‘do not give him the opportunity to walk back into your life until Season 40 of #Rosewood undertone meaning N-E-V-E-R ( like seriously I still ache).

As a Cinematographer, I want to appreciate the director of photography, director, editors and crew for making me fall in love using camera techniques, the actors nailed the dance but the technicalities of putting the shots together and the score of that moment was dope. The theme preached was a sold out in a perfect delivery, using camera views to bring out such emotional feelings in your audience is magical and a whole lot of technical hard work.

For season 2, I will love to see Annalise's boss exonerated from the tangle he got himself so he can come back to work and also get serious with Annalise’s mum but for Rosewood, let him stay far from Annalise even if he solves the case, for once let’s see a Rosewood fight for LOVE and also have more intense cases to solve.

Looking forward to #ROSEWOOD-Season 2

ARRI launches International Film Support Program.

#filmmaking #ARRI

A dream come true for International Filmmakers as ARRI launches International Film Support.

For nearly 100 years, ARRI has committed itself to the film industry. “We like to find ways to give back to the industry and support new talent, so we have created the International Support Program to emphasize our ongoing commitment,” says Dr. Jörg Pohlman of the ARRI AG Executive Board. For the first time, talented filmmakers will have an opportunity to realize their envisioned projects backed by ARRI’s diverse expertise. The company’s support will be tailored to the individual needs of each selected project, helping filmmakers’ ideas come to life and make their way onto the big screen. Regional constraints no longer exist, as ARRI has subsidiaries across the globe. Filmmakers from all over the world can apply online with their feature films or documentary film projects.


International Support Program FAQs

1. How do I apply?
Please use the online application form on our website and read the requirements.

2/4. How many projects can I apply with?
You may submit up to two projects, but we encourage you to choose your most important project in terms of moving forward. Please note that you must complete a separate application for each project.

5. I have a project that I want to submit for the ISP, but it is still a treatment. If I think I will not be able to have a draft in screenplay format ready in time for submission, can I submit my treatment for consideration?
No. We need to receive a completed draft of a screenplay in order to consider your project for the ISP. This does not mean the final draft; however, we do ask that the script be in standard format.

6. Can I reapply with the same script next year?
Under certain circumstances, yes. We will consider re-applications with the same script, only if you have completed significant revisions.

7. Who can apply?
Only producers can apply. There is no limitation on nationalities. Please see the requirements for further instructions.

8. Is there a deadline?
No, this is an ongoing submission.

9. When do I get feedback?
We will get in touch with you within 8 weeks.

10. How will I be notified about acceptance? Will I be notified if I’m not accepted? All ISP notifications will be made per email. You will hear from us either way, whether accepted or not.

11. Can I deliver my application in person?
No, we don’t accept materials in person as our entire application process is available online.

12. I don't have much experience. Does that effect my chances for the ISP?
No, absolutely not. The International Support Program seeks to foster exciting emerging voices regardless of professional film experience.

13. Do you consider scripts written in a language other than English?
Although we will support scripts that will eventually be produced in a language other than English, your script must be translated into English for consideration.

14. Can I submit a script based on a novel?
Yes, we will consider scripts based on prior work, as long as you have secured the underlying rights to the material

15. How complete should the screenplay be?
The International Support Program considers scripts at various stages of development, but you must have a full, completed screenplay in order to be considered.

16. Can I apply for a limited package?
Yes, under certain circumstances, but please mention your package needs in your cover letter.

17. What does the application include?
The application includes the following components. Please see the requirements:
§ Producer’s biography
§ Logline (a 1-2 sentence description of your project) § Financing Plan
§ Synopsis (1,000 words max.) § Cover Letter (750 words max.) Please introduce yourself and the project. There are no strict requirements for this letter, but we’d like to get a brief idea of you, the theme of your script, and how the INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAM could benefit your project. § Artistic Statement (1,000 words max.)
Please describe your creative vision for the material, and give us a sense of where you are in the creative process. Here’s an example of the type of information we’re looking for: What is your personal connection to the material? What do you want an audience to take away from your film? How do you envision the realization of this script in terms of story, character, tone, and/or visual style? Do you have a budget level in mind, and which audience do you most want to reach? Why are you passionate about this story? If this is a resubmission of material we've considered previously, how has the material changed or transformed since we last read it?

18. Are there any requirements for the application?
Yes. The producer has to own the rights to submit the project (Chain of Title). The director must be attached and the main cast confirmed. 50% of the budget must be financed already. The budget range for a feature (Live Action) is USD 1 mio. – 5 mio. The budget range for a feature documentary is USD 300,000 minimum.

19. Would my ideas be protected?
Yes, ARRI does not share or distribute any materials.

20. Do you accept projects that have been submitted elsewhere?
Yes, we have no restrictions on material that has been through other workshops or programs.

21. How should I address my cover letter?
Please address your cover letter "To Whom It May Concern."

22. What does the program cost? Participation is entirely free.


23. Does ARRI own my screenplay?
No. The producer must own the rights to the project.

For more information about the International Support Program visit www.arri.com/isp

Become Sustainable Entrepreneur 2016! Deadline September 16th,2016

#Entrepreneur #Entrepreneurship  #SustainableEntrepreneurshipAward2016


Become Sustainable Entrepreneur 2016!

Quoting  Christiana's words

" With SEA we are looking for businesses/projects/ideas, whose innovative, lucrative business models have found the solution to an ecological or social problem. Independent from size, industry or country everybody is invited to submit his project, idea and business model focused on Sustainable Entrepreneurship.

All submissions received until the 16th of September 2016 are running through the evaluation process for the SEA 2016.

For our 5th anniversary we have further developed our event concept. As the awards have been given on a glamourous evening gala event in past times, we have changed the focus on exchange and communication between entrepreneurs, investors, interested people. Therefore we have decided to start the SEA-event already in the afternoon hours. The finalists of the year 2016 will be invited to present their project/company to the jury-members and potential investors. After closing the evaluation process of the finalists the winners will be announced and awarded on an exclusive evening event. The most outstanding project will receive a reward of 10.000 euros.

We are looking forward to numerous submissions".

https://register.se-award.org/en/register.php

2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entries.

#2017CommonwealthShortStoryPrize

We’re delighted to let you know that the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entries. The closing date is 1 November 2016. The prize is for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words) in English; regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. Entry is free.

Stories translated into English are also eligible, and this year we invite writers from writers from Mozambique who write in Portuguese, and writers who write in Samoan, Swahili and Bengali, and who do not have an English translation of their story, to submit their stories in the original language.

The international judging panel this year comprises Zukiswa Wanner (Africa); Mahesh Rao (Asia); Jacqueline Baker (Canada and Europe); Jacob Ross (Caribbean) and Vilsoni Hereniko (Pacific), and the chair is the novelist Kamila Shamsie.


“One of the pleasures of short stories is the potential for encountering both breadth and concentrated depth of writing over the space of just a few stories. In the case of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the geographic range of the entrants, as well as the prize's track record of attracting extraordinary writing, turns that potential into near-certainty.” Kamila Shamsie, Chair, 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Commonwealth Writers is delighted to continue its partnership with Granta Magazine to give the overall and regional winners of the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to have their story edited and published by Granta online.

Read the 2016 winning stories, first published by Granta online, and now all available on our site, together with entries from previous years.

Please see our website, www.commonwealthwriters.org for the entry and eligibility guidelines and the online entry form.

Good luck!

Mark Zukerberg; his words during his visit to Nigeria

#MarkZukerberg

"Lagos! This is my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. I'll be meeting with developers and entrepreneurs, and learning about the startup ecosystem in Nigeria. The energy here is amazing and I'm excited to learn as much as I can.

Our first stop is the Co-creation Hub Nigeria (CcHUB) in Yaba. I got to talk to kids at a summer coding camp and entrepreneurs who come to CcHub to build and launch their apps. I'm looking forward to meeting more people here!"

Live with developers and entrepreneurs in Lagos!

"This is Rosemary Njoku. I just met Rosemary at the Facebook Express Wi-Fi stand she runs in Lagos.

Express Wi-Fi empowers entrepreneurs to build a business by providing their community with access to the internet. Facebook designed the technology, and local internet providers add the connectivity. Express Wi-Fi is part of our Internet.org initiative.

Rosemary already had a business before she also started selling Express Wi-Fi as well, but she told me she now has 3,000 customers and makes much more money from Express Wi-Fi. She's a great example of how local entrepreneurs spread internet access around the world".

"This week, we're launching a satellite into space to enable more entrepreneurs across Africa to sell Express Wi-Fi and more people to access reliable internet. That means more connectivity and more opportunity for entrepreneurs like Rosemary everywhere".

"Quick run this morning across the Ikoyi Bridge with entrepreneurs in the Lagos Road Warriors running club. Best way to see a city!"

"Visited Nollywood, #AfrinollySpace; Where Technology Meets Art, crashed a hip hop music video, and met some of Nigeria's biggest stars".

"Last stop of my trip: I'm in Abuja to meet Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

We all met with entrepreneurs as part of Demo Day, an initiative for the Nigerian government to fund entrepreneurs with ideas for improving the country. We heard from engineers who are finding ways to reward people for recycling, designing ways to pick up trash easier, and using shuttles to improve commutes in Lagos".

This has been an inspiring trip. The energy and entrepreneurship in Nigeria and Kenya is amazing. I can't wait to come back again soon!"

A Night with HBO #TheNightOf

#FridayNightOf

So this wonderful rainy night, I decided to ease off  with a film. I searched through the new compilations of films from my brother ‘a gift to always keep you sane’, he usually says, I saw this title ‘The Night’, thinking it was a medical series due to my phobia for blood I decided to check and delete asap but what I wasn't anticipating happened, I was smitten  by the montage ambience.

As a writer, I put importance to film montages and from watching a film montage for few mins, I can tell you the whole story or synopsis behind the story. The ambience I felt from the beginning of the Montage intro took me to that moment I was watching Dare Devil story and right there I knew this was going to be a dark and twisted story.

What I didn’t deduce was if it was medical oriented story or not then I saw the full title #TheNightOf and alas it clicked ‘it was another Grisham touch’. I made my way quickly to the kitchen to make a cup of tea because that was the only task that could be of bother if I had to play the film further and with a film as such, I aint missing any little detail of importance and so my journey to the world of Nasir started.

#NoSpoilerAlert from me but this is a series to watch. It started slow but with key details one mustn’t overlook, this might be technical but for us filmmakers, attention to details matters. Right from the emphases on shots from other angles which could be termed a second POV ‘a third eye’ ,I knew I was locked down because something will definitely take me back to why those shots were important and taken in the story.

Everyone made it emotional and conveyed vital messages from their expressions, actions and  to their words. The conversations were balanced. Two characters made my day in the court, Duane and the undertaker as labelled. The fact that I could laugh with the tensed emotion I was feeling while they kept such straight face with their speeches was priceless and human.

In this story we see a young boy who takes his 360 degree walks of life to become a man(Nasir) ,a man who believes in what he does despite all odds (John Stone), a man of honour (Detective Sergent Box), mixed feelings (the lawyer Chandra), the faith of a mother(Nasir’s mother), the strength of a father(Nasir’s father),the life of a cat(Cat),a friend a foe?(Freddy) ,the eye of an Eagle (Dr Katz), a mind set (Weiss) and the most important character of the film, the catalyst of change(Andrea).

It might just be a short meeting of short moments but Nasir actually did loved Andrea for that brief period of time and that will always stick with him, she was his catalyst of change.

Thank you Sofia Black D’Elia , Riz Ahmed, Casts and Crew for such wonderful moments shared with you watching this series. 

#HBO, I look forward to joining the team. ‘Where should I email my CV?’, *winks* trying my luck ‘Never Say Never’.