InqWork Writer Development Grant
Your story has been waiting long enough.
InqWork is looking for nine African writers. We have grants, a platform, and readers ready for exactly what you have written.
Application deadline: 20 June 2026
About this grant
This is not a competition.
It is a beginning.
Most writing programmes want a finished, polished, publish-ready manuscript. We don't. We want to find the writers who are becoming. The ones who have been writing in private and wondering if anyone would care.
We care.
InqWork exists to give African stories the readers they deserve. This grant is how we find the writers behind those stories.
KES 6,000
Yours. No strings attached.
9
Writers selected
In addition to the grant award, the selected writers will receive:
Coaching
Secure your place for a coaching session with a seasoned publisher.
Spotlight
Your work featured on a platform built for African storytelling.
Audience
African readers actively looking for the next story to follow.
Who should apply
Written anything lately? Thought about writing something?
We are looking for people writing novels and short stories. Published or not. Known or not. Just writing.
Judging Criteria:
Submissions will be read by a panel of readers, experienced writers and publishing industry professionals. We will look at many things, but above all, we will ask these questions.
We have a theme for Cohort 1
Nairobi Nights
When the sun goes down, a different city wakes up.
Tell a story set in Nairobi after dark — where anything can happen.
Originality
Is there something alive in this that we haven't seen before? A world, a voice, a way of seeing.
Storytelling skill
Do the characters feel real? Does the plot pull you forward? Does it make us forget we are reading?
Writing quality
The craft. The grammar. The sentence. The word chosen over every other word.
How to apply
Send us two things.
1. A 500-word synopsis
Tell us what your story is about. Not every plot point — the soul of it.
2. The first four chapters
Each between 1,200 and 2,400 words. We want to see how you open a world.
Submit your work to:
editor@inqwork.africa
Deadline: 20 June 2026
Free to submit
We built InqWork for you. The taxi driver with a story that would stop traffic. The student writing between lectures. The mother who writes when the house is quiet.
Your story is ready. So are we.
Terms & Conditions
By submitting, you confirm the work is original and has not been previously published in any form. Authors retain full copyright of their work. InqWork reserves the right to feature brief excerpts for promotional purposes, with author attribution. Submission does not guarantee selection. This is a merit-based writer development programme. No purchase or payment is required to submit. Selection is determined solely by editorial assessment. The panel's decision is final; no correspondence will be entered into regarding individual submissions. InqWork reserves the right to amend or withdraw this programme at any time without prior notice.