A New Anthology Of Short Fiction: Submissions Requested

Thanks for the info.

Thank you very much SMC for this announcement. Indeed, I am editing an anthology of new fiction from Africa. The focus is on unpublished work, but I will include any previously published work if the author owns the copyright. I would prefer that submissions be sent to me via email; however, a query letter should precede the submission. All contributors to this anthology will be paid for their work. No deadline has been set for this publication. In addition to the African anthology, I am also editing an anthology of immigrant writing. This publication is open to immigrants residing in the United States.  Deadline for the immigrant anthology is Friday November 28th, 2008. Please go to http://www.kilimanjaromedia.com for additional information, or send me an email at:
jideosik@kilimanjaromedia.com
Jide Osikomaiya

Absolutely, yes! Please send your material to jideosik@kilimanjaromedia.com. Better yet, visit our website. Its address is located in my signature.

The best way to protect your work is to copyright it before sending it out to editors. In 1970, I sent my poems out to the editor of Nigerian Post and all the poems were published—and it was the first time I ever wrote anything and got paid for it. I was paid five pounds for each poem. I did not think the editor was going to steal my idea or work, and no one did. As a student at the University of Ibadan in the early seventies, I submitted poems to the Department of English magazine “Idoto” and my poems were published. This was how I met and became friends with Odia Ofeimun and many other student writers of the seventies. I sent many poems to Femi Osofisan, which he published in his poetry chapbook, “Opon Ifa” During Festac, I sent my poems to Cyprian Ekwensi and he published the poems in “An Anthology of new Nigerian Writing”, which was Nigeria’s literary entry for Festac. I did not think he was going to pilfer my work and he did not. It never crossed my mind that someone would steal my work.

As a staff writer at the Daily Times between 1976 and 1980, I published hundreds of articles on the literary and performing arts in Nigeria and no one stole my articles or reprinted without the Daily Times permission. This Idea of stealing stuff is a new phenomenon in Nigeria because I know for sure that magazines and journals still ask for submissions here in the USA. I understand the concerns of writers about being plagiarized or their works stolen by other people, but the best way to protect yourself is to copyright your work. As an English instructor here at Delta College in Stockton, California I remind my students of the penalty for plagiarism which is failing the course or perhaps getting into serious trouble with the Dean of Instruction. Therefore, there is no need to engage in an unnecessary hair-splitting exercise regarding my anthology. It is a shame that Nigerians have experienced incredible dishonesty in the hands of leaders and trusted managers—which is why everything and everyone is suspect, but you have to move beyond that and keep an open mind.  I would like to publish other writers because I love and teach literature. Thank you SMC for making a clear headed and thoughtful argument. By the way, I am going to put up the US copyright office link on my website so that you can register your work if you so desire.

SMC,
I have been to the website and any literate person should appreciate this open invitation.

May I advise Jide Osikomaiya to ask for submissions from Nigeria through the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), to make sure that the anthology is a good compilation of contemporary prose fiction.
He can also inform Sola Osofisan of the African Writer.   

every great man is a writer and every writer is a great man.
word rules.
thanks for the privilege mr. Jide.

hope to send in mine very soon.

A Nigerian website for literary interests is good, but most Nigerians are poor managers of such intellectual ventures.

The only way Nigerians will patronize such a website is to offer them cash prizes in dollars every week.

The appreciation of modern literature in Nigeria ends in the Ivory Towers and after that most of the graduates become copywriters for Advertising Companies and others join the corporate affairs units of banks, oil companies.
Most of them forget about their first love, because writing serious prose is a labour of love and not recommended for those who do not have regular jobs. Then when you get the regular jobs, the jobs do not give you the time to write serious prose. I have seen cartons of unpublished works in the private quarters of many of these fellow Nigerians and they have kept these heaps of their writings for decades. I lost seven unpublished novels, because I threw them aside to work for monthly salary. Chuma Ifedi the popular short story writer has many unpublished works and The Guardian is not even interested in publishing them, because Nigerians no longer read books.
The Longman Drumbeat and Gong series, the Pacesetters and others have become things of the past.
Most of the Nigerian youths prefer to type and read their exchanges of text messages on their GSM phones.
I have younger brothers I have never seen reading a novel, but I see them reading long text messages and even staying up until midnight to make midnight calls. And guess what? Nigerians spend more than $76 million weekly on GSM calls.

This generation is wasting away while we are still day dreaming of Vision 2020.

yicob,
The wannabe/rookie copywriter needs to register for courses at the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) http://www.apcon.gov.ng/ and then have an added advantage by registering for courses at the NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS (NIPR) http://professionalexamsclinic.com/courses.html.

Having the professional qualifications helps the person to advance in this career, because without these qualifications the person cannot practice in Nigeria and cannot be gainfully employed.