People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a non-governmental organisation working towards the eradication of all forms of violence against women, is calling for poetry, short stories, and personal essays from women and girl children in South Africa for the Women’s Writing Competition 2008. The theme for this year’s competition is "Journeys to Recovery". The POWA Women’s Writing Competition was launched in 2004 as part of an initiative to encourage women to tell their stories from their own perspective, and, by so doing, contribute to the on-going discussions and debate on issues that affect them.


Prizes will range from ZAR 500 to ZAR 2,500 with a first, second, and third prize as well as a best youth prize and discretionary honourable mentions.


Click here for more information about the award.

The competition is open to women in South Africa of all ages. Entries can be submitted in any of the country’s 11 official languages, by post or e-mail, and must be accompanied by the POWA Women’s Writing Competition entry form. Work submitted must be new work, and must not have been published anywhere else.


Click here to download the entry form in PDF format.

POWA website on June 18 2008.