Representation matters! We help African children see themselves in storybooks through our Golden Baobab Prize, which discovers and presents the most exciting African writers and illustrators with opportunities to produce African children's books. Scarce resources for African children's writers and illustrators means fewer culturally-relevant books available for our children. Join us on this inspiring journey to fund and support the stories of Africa's next generation of literary greats!
African children are underrepresented in literature. Why? Across Africa many talented children's writers & illustrators don't have enough opportunities to nurture their skills, publish and showcase their work. Writers & illustrators are enabled to create more content when they have greater access to multiple support systems (trainings, funding and publishing services). Scarce resources for African writers & illustrators is directly related to the underrepresentation of African children in books.
To encourage the production and supply of African children's books we will organize the Golden Baobab Prize to attract African writers and illustrators to create and submit children's stories that focus on Africa. We will guarantee publication of the winning stories and connect outstanding stories and illustrators to publishers and projects in Africa and around the world. The stories will be published into quality children's books, available to African children and young readers worldwide.
Over the long term, this project first of all nurtures cohorts of creative Africans who will become the literary greats of the African children's literature space. Second, it provides more activities for industry professionals through skills development and job creation. Writing and illustrating for children can become viable career options for professionals in Africa. Third, it provides world class storybooks created by African writers and illustrators for children all over the world to enjoy.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
