The CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature – Tanzania is coordinated by the Children’s Book Project (CBP), a Tanzanian, award-winning literacy organization. CODE has been working with CBP for over 25 years to support literacy development programming in primary schools in Tanzania.
Tanzania has a number of established publishers and a growing publishing industry. There is a relatively large pool of talented writers in the country, yet a clear need for relevant and appropriate reading materials to be available for youth to build and reinforce their literacy skills, and foster interest in reading.
As one Tanzanian author stated: “The Burt Award is long awaited. It came at the time when most English novel writers have despaired and have stopped writing because our books don’t sell.Now that we have an impetus to write, we will write.” - Dr Martha Mvungi
Six professionals are involved in judging submissions. Among them are four Tanzanians, one Ugandan and one Canadian. The jury members are carefully selected on the basis of their knowledge and expertise in literature, linguistics, publishing and writing.Manuscripts submitted by publishers are evaluated and judged on an individual basis. A week-long deliberation process takes place each year during which time the jury meets to determine winning submissions.
The Canadian jury member, Hadley Dyer, was selected by IBBY Canada to join the Tanzanian Burt Award jury. In addition to judging manuscripts, Hadley is helping to develop writers’ skills in Tanzania by co-facilitating writers’ workshops for aspiring writers and editors of fiction for youth, in English.
The Burt Award helps to develop writers’ skills in Tanzania by offering writers’ workshops. These workshops, held for aspiring writers and editors, are designed to address the need to build up writers’ skills in producing fiction specifically for youth, but also writing in English.
Writers win monetary awards of $9,000 for first prize, $7,000 for second prize and $5,000 for third prize (CAD), while publishers receive a guaranteed purchase of 3,000 copies of each title. In addition, publishers print an additional 2,000 copies to market and sell commercially.
The Children’s Book Project will distribute the titles to more than 150 schools and community libraries throughout the country. Publishers and the Children’s Book Project will facilitate the use of these materials in schools and the greater community through activities such as the radio and live dramatizations of the titles and essay-writing contests in schools.
Children’s Book Project for Tanzania
(255) 22 2760750
cbpvitabu@yahoo.com
www.cbp.or.tz
CODE
Burt Award for African Literature – Tanzania
613-232-3569
codehq@codecan.org
Accra, Ghana and Ottawa, Canada, August 31, 2018 – CODE and the Ghana Book Trust proudly announce the winner, the honour book, and the finalists of the 2018 Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature, which recognizes outstanding writing for young adults by African authors, at an award ceremony at the Ghana International Book Fair in Accra, Ghana. The international jury received a total of 17...
Are you passionate about the creative process of young adult literature? Are you looking for an opportunity to work alongside African and Caribbean book creators and mentor their creative process? If you answered yes, then this opportunity is for you! CODE is seeking volunteer editors to mentor African and Caribbean authors, editors, and publishers whose manuscripts are eligible to compete in the...
Accra, Ghana July 31, 2018 – The Ghana Book Trust (GBT) and CODE are delighted to announce the finalists for the 2018 CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature. This year, Ghana Book Trust received 17 submissions from publishers in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The five-member jury made up of publishing and writing professionals from each of the program countries and Canada, met...