The Arts & Culture programme at Abdou Moumouni University in Niger and the publishing house Amalion in Senegal are pleased to announce the call for entries for the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction to contribute to the availability of reading material for African young adults and to promote literature to help better understand the world of African youths. Every two years, the Sarraounia Prize will be awarded to the best unpublished fiction for young adults written in English, French or Hausa by African authors and illustrators based in Africa.

For the 2020 edition, the winner will receive a prize of 1,000 euros, and the winning entry will be published and disseminated by Amalion and its partners from November 2020. The Sarraounia Prize will explore all traditional and digital media technologies to disseminate its activities and will endeavour to promote the writer and their work in various forums, in order to bring their work to the attention of book industry actors and the general public.

Rules

The following regulations set out the legal and procedural terms and conditions for the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Participation in the Sarraounia Prize shall entail the acceptance by the applicant of these Rules in their entirety and without reservation. These rules can be consulted free of charge and in a printable version during the duration of the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction on the Internet at www.sarraounia.com

Article 1: Submission of entry

To participate, all applicants must complete the application form and submit their entry at www.sarraounia.com.

The Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction is free and open to any person resident and citizen of a country in Africa who has written a fictional narrative for Young Adult, illustrated or not, either in English, French, or haoussa. Any work previously published in digital or printed format that has been the subject of an author’s contract is not eligible.

In the case of minors and young adults under the law, their participation is subject to obtaining a written authorization from their parent(s) or guardian(s) dated prior to the commencement of any registration and application procedure.

Each applicant can only submit one single entry. Any collaboration between two writers or between a writer and an illustrator will be considered as a single entry.

By taking part in the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction, each applicant guarantees that the work is original, they are the only author(s) of the text presented, and that they have not borrowed or plagiarised existing protected works, and in general, guarantee not to submit works that infringe or could infringe the intellectual property rights or any other third party rights, including copyright or defamation.

Applicants authorize the Sarraounia Prize to distribute extracts of their texts, in publications or in any medium intended to ensure the promotion of the Prize and of the applicants.

The applicant also guarantees that they have the full power to enter the work in this competition, and will be personally responsible for any challenge to the ownership of the work.

The candidate undertakes not to damage the image and reputation of the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction or its partners.

Registration and submission for the Sarraounia Award for Young Adult Fiction 2020 Edition is from June 30, 2019 to September 30, 2019. Any submission outside the time periods expressed herein will not be taken into account.

Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last day to submit their entry.

Article 2: Selection

The website www.sarraounia.com will be the central point for all information regarding the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

Only the selected winner will be informed by telephone (direct call) or by email, through the contact information provided in the application form. The Sarraounia Prize shall not be liable forthe non delivery of the e-mail or of the telephone call announcing the winner and the invitation related to it as a result of any malfunction in the network or an error in the telephone number or email address indicated by the applicant during registration for the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

If the winner does not accept the prize within a period of seven (7) days of the phone call or email being sent informing them that their text has been selected as the winner, they will be considered to have forfeited their rights to the prize. No claims, or contestations will be accepted, and no indemnity or damages will be deemed applicable.

An official award ceremony will be held in October 2020 in Niamey, where the winner will be invited to attend. Travel and accommodation of the winner will be supported by the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

The winning applicant authorizes the Sarraounia Prize and Amalion and its partners to edit, publish and disseminate the work, in all languages and in all present and future forms, in paper, electronic and multimedia format, and all over the world.

Article 3: Decision

Any decision by the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Prize cannot be contested. It reserves the right to take any decisions it may deem useful for the application and/or interpretation of the Rules. The organizers could inform the applicants by any means of their choice. The Sarraounia Prize also reserves the right to modify, extend, shorten, suspend or cancel this competition, without notice, as a result of any event or circumstances beyond its control.

In particular, the Sarraounia Prize shall reserve the right, if necessary, to invalidate and/or cancel all or part of the competition, if it appears that fraud or malfunctions have occurred in any form whatsoever. In this case, the Sarraounia Prize reserves the right not to award the prize to the winner suspected of fraud or plagiarism.

Article 4: Privacy, data protection and rights

Applicants are informed that personal data, name(s), first name(s), date of birth, postal address, email address, telephone number, nationality, photograph(s) etc., concerning them are necessary to take into account their application and participation. Otherwise, their participation in the Sarraounia Young Adult Fiction Prize will not be accepted.

Applicants agree in advance that, if selected, their text and personal data submitted to the contest or taken at the official award ceremony are used for advertising or promotional purposes or by the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction or its partners in any written photographic or audiovisual report about the competition without, in any way, being able to claim any remuneration or any rights whatsoever. They authorize the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction to distribute their text, photograph (reproduction rights and representation rights), collectively or individually, or the images representing them, collectively or individually, for all publications or any medium intended to ensure the publicity or promotion of the prize.

Article 5: Limitations

All services and products, if any, provided by the Sarraounia Prize for Young Adult Fiction under this prize are provided on an as is basis. The Sarraounia Prize does not warrant that the services or products, if any, provided hereunder will be uninterrupted or error free. The Sarraounia Prize disclaims any and all representations and warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, title, quiet enjoyment, data accuracy and system integration. In no event shall the Sarraounia Prize be liable for punitive, consequential, incidental, exemplary, indirect, or special damages, including without limitation, damages for loss of profits, revenues, business, use, data or other intangibles, whether or not such damages were foreseeable, throughout the duration of the competition and thereafter.

CALENDAR

30 June 2019: Call for application and submission.

30 September 2019: Closing Date for applications.

30 November 2019: Jury Selection

30 September 2020: Official Announcement of Winner

24 October 2020: Award Ceremony

1 November 2020: Publication Release