Submission guidelines

Important Update: New Submission Guidelines Starting March 1st, 2025.

Oriire will only accept article submissions based on our monthly writing prompts. Each month, we’ll release five themes, and submissions must align with one of them. This change allows us to spotlight a wider range of historical and mythological stories while ensuring a more structured and engaging experience for both writers and readers.

For May submissions, here are the prompts to choose from:

• Gods on Screen: How African Cinema Portrays Mythology – Examine how African films and series depict traditional gods, spirits, and myths (e.g., Aníkúlápó, The Legend of Inikpi, Ireti). How accurate or stylized are these portrayals? Are the narratives faithful to their traditional understandings within the cultural contexts?
• Oral Storytelling Traditions and Modern Filmmaking – Investigate how traditional oral storytelling such as the griot tradition in Senegal or Mali has influenced modern filmmaking from those regions. How are proverbs, praise poetry, or epic tales adapted for contemporary audiences?
• Time: Concepts of Time and the Ancestors in Traditional Worldviews – Examine how communities such as the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria or the Dogon of Mali conceptualize time, particularly through their beliefs in ancestor veneration and cyclical existence. How do these views influence rituals, memory, and spiritual life?
• Origin Stories: Creation Myths Across the Continent – Document and analyze the creation myths of specific ethnic groups, such as the Bakongo (DRC, Angola) and the Shilluk (South Sudan). How do these origin stories explain the beginning of the world and the emergence of humanity within their spiritual frameworks?
• Funeral Rites, Death and the Afterlife in African Traditions – Explore the funeral rites and beliefs about the afterlife held by specific communities such as the Ga people of Ghana, known for their elaborate fantasy coffins, or the Dogon of Mali, whose Dama rituals facilitate the journey of the soul. How do these practices reflect each group’s relationship with death and ancestors?

Writers whose articles are selected for publication will continue to receive a fixed payment per article. Be sure to follow our submission guidelines outlined below to improve your chances of getting published!

New prompts will be announced at the start of each month. Stay tuned and start writing!

General Submission Guildelines