Journalism, communication and new technologies in Africa, theme of the fourth edition of Casa Africa Essay Prizes

Casa Africa, a Spanish institution of public diplomacy, has announced the fourth edition of the Essay Prizes on African Themes. The heading chosen for this edition is Journalism, communication and new technologies in Africa. The award includes the edition of the winning essay as a part of Casa África’s essay collection (in collaboration with Los Libros de la Catarata) and 4.000 Euros to the author. The fourth call of Casa Africa Essay Prize will be open until July 13^th  2012.

Essays must be original, unpublished and they must not have won any prizes or be pending the final ruling in other events or competitions. Participants must guarantee that there are no third-party rights over the essays presented, and they shall be liable for all and any claims that may arise in this respect. 

The essays may be presented in Spanish, English, French or Portuguese, they cannot be less than 15,000 or more than 20,000 words (excluding bibliography), and they must be written in Word Arial 12 Format and double spaced. Essays must be presented unsigned and they will only be identified by the title of the work and whatever pseudonym each author may decide to use. Both the title of the essay and the pseudonym must appear on every page of the essay and pages must be numbered. Any signed essays will not be accepted for the competition. 

This year’s Casa África Prizes for Essays on African Themes are held with a view to recognising, promoting and publicising original and unpublished essays that enhance the knowledge that people have of the African continent. 

Throughout these years, Casa África has published three books with the winning essays of the three previous editions in collaboration with Los Libros de la Catarata. Gustau Nerín, Óscar Mateos Martín, Vicente J. Montes Gan y Eva Media Moral were the winners of the first edition, in 2008. The journalist Aloia Álvarez Féans won the 2009 edition with a text about Nigeria and the oil production. In last year’s  edition, Miguel Ángel López Martín won with an essay on Africa’s agriculture. 

The heading Journalism, communication and new technologies in Africa includes all and any communications made about and from Africa: how information about the continent and its inhabitants is presented both in Western and in African media, Africa’s communication from Africa or how Africans use new technologies for development, connecting with the rest of the world, the dissemination of contents and social change. From the situation of journalism to the development of mobile phone technology or the impact of social media in African’s way of life or politics, the aim of Casa Africa with the theme chosen is to offer a ‘photograph’ of the plural, creative and ingenious communication born in Africa, and how is it improving the development of the continent.

The complete bases of this prize are available on this link: Bases. If you have any request or about the essay prize, you can write an e-mail to premio@casafrica.es or call to +34928432800 (Education Unit).