NC x Ethics Lab Call for Submissions

New Contrast is inviting submissions for a special issue, in partnership with the Ethics Lab at the University of Cape Town. We’re looking for previously unpublished African speculative fiction that grapples with the ethical questions of living alongside new and emerging technologies.

This submission call will be open to all writers across Southern Africa, and will run from April 15th to July 15th 2026. 

What are we looking for?

We welcome original speculative fiction, poetry, essays, creative non-fiction, artwork and critical reviews, and are  accepting submissions in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa. We’re especially interested in work that explores the relationship between the human experience and emerging technologies. 

Submissions may engage with, but are not limited to, the following key themes: 

• Afrofuturism, Africanfuturism, and Technological Ethics: How does African speculative fiction imagine futures shaped by  AI, biotechnology, and cybernetics? What happens when technology isn’t neutral, but tied to power, identity and resistance? What kinds of futures emerge when these stories are told from the African perspective? 
• Indigenous Knowledge Systems and the Future: What if the future isn’t shaped by the past, but built from it? How can ancestral wisdom shape our understanding of technology today? How might indigenous approaches to knowledge and ethics reframe global discussions on automation, biotechnology, and digital consciousness?
• Climate Futures, Solarpunk, and Survival: How do African writers imagine life in a changing climate? What does survival, adaptation and resistance look like in these futures? 
• The Body, Enhancement, and Identity: As technologies like genetic editing or neural implants become more real, how do they change what it means to be human? How might African stories explore questions of identity, autonomy and transformation? 

Your work doesn’t have to fit neatly into any of these categories. These questions are simply prompts to help you get started. Surprise us! We’re interested in work that takes risks, plays with form and imagines something new. 

Guidelines for Submissions

We’re calling for work in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa, in the following formats:

Fiction  (1,500–3,000 words)

Poetry (up to 3 poems per submission)

Essays and creative non-fiction (1500–3,000 words)

Critical reviews (Up to 1500 words)

Graphic novel/comic  (up to 4 pages)

Illustrations/artwork (up to 3 images per submission)

*If you have work that falls outside of any of these formats, please don’t hesitate to submit. Just motivate why you think it should be considered in your cover letter. 

How to submit: 

Please submit on Submittable

All submissions require a COVER LETTER & BIO. 

This submission call is open to all writers across Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, eSwatini). 

Please give our editorial team up to two months, post the final submission date, to get back to you regarding your submission. 

No email submissions will be considered.

FICTION SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. This category is intended for fiction submissions of a maximum of 4000 words
2. Every submission must include a cover letter, tell us a bit about yourself, plus a 50-word author bio 
3. Please include your email address somewhere on the document 
4. Ensure the document is proofread as we have limited staff at New Contrast, if you’ve made a mistake please withdraw and submit again 
5. Although we make some effort to accommodate the author's preferences, the requirements of the journal will take priority, and format may be changed. If you require specific fonts and so on, please indicate this, explain and justify in a covering letter

Please wait for three months to pass before inquiring about submissions, please send inquiries to the editorial team: ed@newcontrast.net 

FLASH FICTION SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. This category is intended for fiction submissions of a maximum of 1 500 words
2. Every submission must include a cover letter, tell us a bit about yourself, plus a 50-word author bio 
3. Please include your email address somewhere on the document 
4. Ensure the document is proofread as we have limited staff at New Contrast, if you’ve made a mistake please withdraw and submit again 
5. Although we make some effort to accommodate the author's preferences, the requirements of the journal will take priority, and format may be changed. If you require specific fonts and so on, please indicate this, explain and justify in a covering letter

Please wait for three months to pass before inquiring about submissions, please send inquiries to the editorial team: ed@newcontrast.net 

ENGLISH POETRY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
 

1. Every submission must include a cover letter, tell us a bit about yourself and the poem(s) you’ve submitted, plus a 50-word author bio 
2. Please include your email address somewhere on the document 
3. Submit 1-3 poems in a single document 
4. Ensure the document is proofread as we have limited staff at New Contrast, if you’ve made a mistake please withdraw and submit again 
5. Although we make some effort to accommodate the author's preferences, the requirements of the journal will take priority, and format may be changed. If you require specific fonts and so on, please indicate this, explain and justify in a covering letter

     6. Please wait for three months to pass before inquiring about submissions

         Please send inquiries to the editorial team: ed@newcontrast.net 

REVIEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. This category is intended for review submissions of a maximum of 1 000 words
2. Every submission must include a cover letter, tell us a bit about your reviewing background and other reviews you have done, plus a 50-word author bio 
3. Please include your email address somewhere on the document 
4. Ensure the document is proofread as we have limited staff at New Contrast, if you’ve made a mistake please withdraw and submit again 
5. The book must be in the category of a South African book of Poetry, Short Stories or a Novel released in 2023. 
6. Although we make some effort to accommodate the author's preferences, the requirements of the journal will take priority, and format may be changed. If you require specific fonts and so on, please indicate this, explain and justify in a covering letter

Please wait for three months to pass before inquiring about submissions, please send inquiries to the editorial team: ed@newcontrast.net 

Elke dokument mag slegs EEN resensie bevat. 

Resensies word by uitstek tot 7 500 woorde beperk. Langer resensies sal slegs onder spesiale omstandighede toegelaat word.  Langer bydraes pas moeiliker in, en mag derhalwe oorgesien word, en staan dus 'n geringer kans op publikasie.   

Alhoewel ons per geleentheid uit ons pad gaan om die skrywer se voorkeure te handhaaf, kry  die joernaal se behoeftes en vereistes voorkeur.   

Indien u 'n buitengewone formaat of font benodig, dui dit asseblief aan, en verduidelik met 'n begeleidende brief die rede vir u vereiste. 

Contributions in all eleven official languages are welcome. The restrictions in length as specified for English, apply to African languages.

Contributions in all eleven official languages are welcome. The restrictions in length as specified for English, apply to African languages.

Elke dokument mag slegs EEN verhaal bevat.

Kortverhale word by uitstek tot 4000 woorde beperk. Langer verhale sal slegs onder spesiale omstandighede toegelaat word. Langer bydraes pas moeiliker in, en mag derhalwe oorgesien word, en staan dus 'n geringer kans op publikasie.

Alhoewel ons per geleentheid uit ons pad gaan om die skrywer se voorkeure te handhaaf, kry die joernaal se behoeftes en vereistes voorkeur.

Indien u 'n buitengewone formaat of font benodig, dui dit asseblief aan, en verduidelik met 'n begeleidende brief die rede vir u vereiste.

Elke dokument mag slegs een gedig bevat, tensy dit deel uitmaak van 'n stel gedigte wat op mekaar volg, of bymekaar hoort.

Alle vorms en genre van Afrikaanse poësie word aanvaar.  Daar is geen beperking op die lengte van 'n gedig nie, maar hoe langer dit is, hoe moeiliker pas dit in, mag derhalwe oorgesien word, en staan dus 'n geringer kans op publikasie. 

Alhoewel ons per geleentheid uit ons pad gaan om die skrywer se voorkeure te handhaaf, kry  die joernaal se behoeftes en vereistes voorkeur.  

Indien u 'n buitengewone formaat of font benodig, dui dit asseblief aan, en verduidelik met 'n begeleidende brief die rede vir u vereiste.