Swahili Short Story Competition: Shindano la Hadithi Fupi za Kiswahili
Quick answer: Swahili short story competition entries are open at Writory from September 2026: an original hadithi fupi of 100 to 6,000 words in Kiswahili, entered online for $8 from Kenya or Tanzania. Stories are read in Kiswahili and judged blind against the published rubric; the top prize is $100, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Andika hadithi fupi kwa Kiswahili na uiwasilishe mtandaoni kutoka Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam au Arusha. Every story is read in Kiswahili against the published rubric, entries close on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Hadithi read in Kiswahili, by readers who know it
Kiswahili has a modern prose tradition that runs from Shaaban Robert through Euphrase Kezilahabi's Rosa Mistika and Said Ahmed Mohamed to Ken Walibora, whose Siku Njema became a school set text on both sides of the border. The language is official in Kenya and Tanzania, is examined in every secondary school, and since 2014 has had its own Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature. Yet most international story contests still accept English only. Here a hadithi stays in Kiswahili: read in Kiswahili by readers who know the language, and scored on the same published rubric as every other entry.
The rubric has five parts: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10. Under Language & Craft, Kiswahili prose is marked as Kiswahili prose. A story written in Kiswahili sanifu, one flavoured with Mombasa's coastal idiom, or one that lets its Nairobi characters slide into Sheng are all read as choices and weighed on whether they are handled deliberately. Judging is blind; names, towns and earlier entries are removed before reading. There is no Kiswahili category or prize; all stories, in every language, sit in one pool and one scored list.
Saa tatu na nusu usiku: the deadline in East Africa
Entries close on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Local deadline: Nairobi and Dar es Salaam: 30 November 2026 at 21:29 GMT+3. Results and certificates follow on 5 December 2026. The first contest runs from 1 September 2026 to 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 5 December 2026 at 8:00 PM IST. Story rounds run every three months, closing on the last day of February, May, August and November. Results follow on the 5th of the next month. The next round opens on the 1st, before the previous round's results.
The local dates above are calculated for this round, including any daylight-saving change. Wherever you write, allow time to upload, pay and check your confirmed entry in your account. A story finished after the deadline can enter the next three-month round.
Entering and paying from Kenya and Tanzania
The story goes in at /submit-story, typed or pasted. Stories run from 100 to 6,000 words in any genre, the writer must be 13 or older, and the work must be original and yours. Entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two and $25 for five, paid in dollars by card or PayPal; your bank converts the charge to Kenyan or Tanzanian shillings at its own rate, and there is no other payment step. A hadithi in Kiswahili and a story in English go through the same form.
The top prize is $100, paid to eligible winners, subject to payment availability in their country and account, and the winner enters the next round free. Eligible Seasoned Quill writers can also receive a free single-entry reward; available rewards appear at checkout. Whatever the placing, every entrant receives a certificate with a verification link and the full five-part score out of 100. Set-book publishers and newspaper competitions rarely tell a writer why a story was passed over; this contest returns a five-part score. Written feedback with the reasons is an optional add-on. You keep every right to the hadithi and may publish it anywhere afterwards.
Kabla ya kuwasilisha
Writory Academy's Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is in English and requires a module or full-course unlock; its lessons on scene, cause and ending apply to a hadithi in Kiswahili without alteration. Read the rubric once, then read your own story asking the five questions the judges will ask. Optional written feedback on an entry is available, and for a Kiswahili story it is written in Kiswahili, so the notes are about your sentences rather than a translation of them.
The first Story results are scheduled for 5 December 2026; Story winners have not yet been announced. A hadithi that a school magazine returned, or a Saturday newspaper never printed, will be read here in full and scored in writing.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 6,000 words by 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 5 December 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Naweza kuandika hadithi kwa Kiswahili?
Yes. Kiswahili is what this page is for. Type or paste the hadithi at /submit-story; it is read in Kiswahili, not through a translation, and scored on the same published five-part rubric as every other entry. English entries from Kenya and Tanzania go through the same form.
How much is the fee, and how do I pay from Kenya or Tanzania?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, paid in dollars by card or PayPal; your bank converts the charge to shillings at its own rate. Winners enter the next round free. There is no separate fee for Kiswahili and no language-specific surcharge. Eligible account rewards can be selected at checkout.
Nitapata cheti hata nisiposhinda?
Every entrant does. The cheti carries your name, the contest round and a verification link on writoryofficial.com, and it arrives with your five-part score out of 100 on 5 December 2026. Students file it with university applications; working writers quote the score.
Is there a separate prize for the best Kiswahili story?
No. Every story, in every language, competes in one pool for the same top prize of $100. A hadithi in Kiswahili is read in Kiswahili and marked on the same rubric as an English entry, so it competes in the same field rather than in a side category.
Sheng, coastal Kiswahili or Kiswahili sanifu?
Any of them. Kiswahili sanifu, the coastal idiom of Mombasa and Zanzibar, or Nairobi dialogue that slides into Sheng are all legitimate choices for fiction. Language & Craft asks whether the choice is deliberate and consistently handled, not whether it would pass a KCSE or CSEE examiner.
When do results come out?
On 5 December 2026 for the current round, on a dated public page, with certificates and scores delivered the same day. The first contest runs from 1 September 2026 to 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 5 December 2026 at 8:00 PM IST. Story rounds run every three months, closing on the last day of February, May, August and November. Results follow on the 5th of the next month. The next round opens on the 1st, before the previous round's results.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 40 countries have entered, readers come from more than 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.