Pepper Coast Lit

16/02/2024

Our Issue IV is LIVE. Huge thanks to our contributors and guest editor, Henneh Kyereh Kwaku.

Please click the link below to read our latest issue:

The Portrait of God | Ibraheem Uthman

26/01/2024

We are pleased to unveil the cover art of our next issue.

20/01/2024

In our quest to promote literary awareness, Pepper Coast Lit has officially launched the Abu Sherif II Poetry Prize. Named after a faded Liberian poet and author of "Al Fatiha", the prize is awarded to a LIBERIAN whose work is authentic, moving, and creative. The judge for this year's prize is Samuel A. Adeyemi, a Best of the Net Nominee and Pushcart Nominee, he is the winner of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize 2021. His chapbook, Rose Ash, was selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the New-Generation African Poets chapbook box set, 2023.

Below are the guidelines for submission:

—ONLY Liberians and Liberian descents are eligible.
—Both published and unpublished poems are eligible.
—Kindly submit 1-3 of your best poems in a single file.
—DO NOT include any personal information in your submission file.
—Submission should be sent to [email protected].

DEADLINE: February 1, 2024 to March 28, 2024.

15/01/2024

Pepper Coast Literary is proud to partner with SprinNG for the 2024 Writing Fellowship.

The SprinNG Writing Fellowship (SWF) is a FREE intensive 6-week online mentorship program for developing Nigerian, Ghanaian, Liberian, and South African writers with great potential and willingness to learn. The fellowship is only open to writers between ages 18 and 25 who have not published a book.

Application opens and closes from January 15 to April 15. To learn more, visit sprinng.org/writing-fellowship; and to apply, visit tinyurl.com/SprinNGWF24. For any inquiries regarding the fellowship, please email [email protected].

10/11/2023

DEADLINE: November 30, 2023.

We are happy to announce that Pepper Coast Lit is now soliciting work for our fourth issue. We accept both poetry and prose. Our submission period is from September 11 to November 30, 2023.

We are also thrilled to have Henneh Kyereh Kwaku as our guest editor.

Kindly submit your via this link: peppercoastlit.co/submit.html

18/10/2023

We are happy to announce that Jakky Bankong-Obi has joined our editorial board as the new Poetry Editor. She is the author of "What Still Yields", chosen by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for publication in the New-Generation African Poets box sets, by Akashic Books and APBF— 2022.

22/09/2023

We are happy to announce that Pepper Coast Lit is now soliciting work for our fourth issue. We accept both poetry and prose. Our submission period is from September 11 to November 30, 2023.

We are also thrilled to have Henneh Kyereh Kwaku as our guest editor.

Kindly submit your via this link: peppercoastlit.co/submit.html

12/07/2023

This is an opportunity for African writers who are considering an MFA in Creative Writing. Our friends at SprinngNG are hosting an informative session that aims to reveal the MFA application process's inner workings, share the experiences of African writers who have already undergone it, and attempt to provide answers to impossible questions. One can register via http://www.sprinng.org/Advantage-Program

See flyer for more details:

03/07/2023

excerpt from "When I Want To Hug God" by LJ Clarke

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/leelah-j-clarke-when-i-want-to-hug-god.html

01/07/2023

excerpt from 001 by Janetta Konah.

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/janetta-marilyn-konah.html

23/06/2023

Our Issue 3 is LIVE!

Huge thanks to our guest editors, Jakky Bankong-Obi and Akpa Arinzechukwu.

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/issue-three.html

TwoPoems | Dami Ajayi ​ 001, 002 | Janetta Marilyn Konah Two Poems | Chisom Okafor Three Poems | Divine Inyang Titus Two Poems | Michael Immosan Two Poems | Osahon Oka Haunting | Olowonjoyin...

03/06/2023

Cover art of our forthcoming Issue III.

12/01/2023

Send us your creations, guys!

06/01/2023

Call for Submissions

30/10/2022

Heat Period and Biographical Dissonance by Onyedịkachi Chinedu

​The raised hindquarters despite her four-legged posture. For a week, the cat showed the ghoul of pleasure only it was enmeshed in her skeleton; the cold grip, the thrilling shock, in...

29/10/2022

On Grief, Death, and Memories: Friendship and Sickle Cells by Bill Ivans Gbafore

For Abu who lived. And lived well.. ...

24/10/2022

Our Issue II is now live. Huge thanks to our contributors and the guest editors.

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/issue-two.html

15/10/2022

We are thrilled to unveil the contributors of our next Issue that will go live in the coming weeks. Thanks to our guest editors for selecting the works of this wonderful group of writers.

25/08/2022

ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey Submitters,

It is with a great joy to inform you that we have started to send out acceptance letters. Please do check your mailbox if you did submit to us.

Thanks for trusting us with your amazing works and being patient with us.

Regards.

20/06/2022

OFFICIAL

We are officially open for submission. Send us those poems and fictions that you have been in search of a home for.

Submit here: https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/submit.html

18/06/2022

MEET THE FICTION EDITOR FOR OUR FORTHCOMING ISSUE

Loic Ekinga is a Congolese writer. He is the author of the poetry chapbook How To Wake A Butterfly (Odyssey Books, 2021). His works of fiction and poetry have appeared (or are forthcoming) in Type/Cast Magazine, Ja. Magazine, Poetry Potion, A Long House, Brittle Paper and Kalahari Review. His experimental mini chapbook Twelve Things You Failed at As A Man Today was an honourable mention by JK Anowe for Praxis Magazine Online. In addition, his short story ‘Loop’ has been adapted into a short film by Vivanation. He is a finalist of Poetry Africa’s Slam Jam competition 2020 and the Fiction Editor for TVO TRIBE

18/06/2022

MEET THE POETRY EDITOR FOR OUR FORTHCOMING ISSUE

BIO: Sihle Ntuli (he/him) is a poet and classicist from Durban, South Africa. He has had work published on The Rumpus, SAND Journal, Transition Magazine and ANMLY. He is the author of the chapbook 'Rumblin' (uHlanga, 2020).

14/06/2022

We will be receiving submissions for our second issue from June 20 to August 1. We will be soliciting submissions for both poetry and fiction.

Big thanks to our guest editors: South African, Sihle Ntuli, and Congolese writer, Loic Ekinga.

13/06/2022

Our issue one is live!

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/issue-one.html

COVER PHOTO BY SIMON LEE | COVER DESIGN BY PAMILERIN JACOB

11/06/2022

"Out of the mouth of a broken piano
A fragrant light is flown; in the pocket
Of a hymn are twenty-four birds mooning.
Tell me, body, where you wake."

from Song, (Un)declared by Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/ernest-o-ograveguacuteny7865miacute-song-undeclared.html

By Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí For the majestic kudu, braided horn Like an invocation of mercy, folds on folds Of skin, muscles spiralling on the side, flashes Of lightning down the back, like clawed...

11/06/2022

"January, you are longer than the Nile.
So boring now, this tottering you
do, drunk on the violence
of my waiting. Know this:

Your hands around my neck, choking
me, only crack open the hope

of February within me."

from January Nocturne by Pamilerin Jacob

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/pamilerin-jacob-january-nocturne.html

By Pamilerin Jacob Midnight, with its coal hands, has smeared my heart with longing, has made a bell of silence & stapled echoes along the hallways of January. The fan’s...

11/06/2022

"​To be God is to bring into existence what brings others into being."

from A Short Note On God, Loving, Leaving & Living by Henneh Kyereh Kwaku

https://peppercoastlit.weebly.com/henneh-kyereh-kwaku-a-short-note-on-god-loving-leaving--living.html

By Henneh Kyereh Kwaku ​​ ​To be God is to bring into existence what brings others into being. Gentle taps of rain on the roof —drizzle, shower— If you stand in there long...