Call for Submissions | Short Non-Fiction Stories
Pan Macmillan South Africa is officially accepting submissions of short and original, unpublished Creative Non-Fiction for an upcoming anthology themed A Slice of Life. We are looking for small, specific everyday scenes that hold weight and meaning – stories rooted in ordinary, lived experience.
Submissions close: Monday, 16 November 2026
Word count: 1,500 – 4,000 words
Pan Macmillan is officially accepting submissions of short and original, unpublished Creative Non-Fiction for consideration for an upcoming anthology.
We are committed to publishing writers who don’t always find their way onto a bookshelf. It’s a tradition we can trace back to Ravan Press, founded in 1972, and its Staffrider magazine, launched in 1978, which gave first-time and community writers a platform for stories rooted in ordinary, lived experience.
With this anthology, we want to make room for new and emerging voices alongside more established ones, and give South African Creative Non-Fiction the platform and the readership it deserves.
We are looking for slice-of-life writing. No need for major plot twists, dramatic life lessons or cinematic ‘aha!’ moments. Give us the small, specific everyday scenes that hold weight and meaning: an amusing exchange in a taxi, an awkward family meal or an ordinary experience that is quietly powerful. Focus on strong scene-building and real dialogue as well as honest details and observations.
Word count: 1,500 – 4,000 words
Deadline: Monday, 16 November 2026
Format: Standard manuscript format (12pt font, double-spaced, .doc/.docx)
CLICK HERE to submit your work via our Google form.
Due to the volume of entries anticipated, if you do not hear back from us by the end of January 2027, please consider that your story was not selected for this project.
Note: Only one submission per person
For more information and guidelines on the submission process click HERE.
