QuillstoneIndigo at Kofar MataHauwa Bello Danladi
Novel, 2026
Indigo at Kofar Mata
Hauwa Bello Danladi
Three generations of women at the old dye pits, a debt that will not stay buried, and a daughter who wants out.
N8,500
Independent since 2011, Barnawa, Kaduna
Stories from the north, set in good type.
Quillstone is a small publishing house on Kachia Road. We publish eight to ten books a year, fiction, essays, poetry and picture books, and we read every manuscript that reaches us.
New this season
Four books for the dry season
QuillstoneA House on Barnawa CloseMusa Ibrahim Kure
Novel, 2026
A House on Barnawa Close
Musa Ibrahim Kure
A retired railway clerk, a lodger with secrets and one long rainy season in a Kaduna compound.
N9,000
QuillstoneLetters in the Dry SeasonChidiebere Okoli
Essays, 2025
Letters in the Dry Season
Chidiebere Okoli
Twenty essays written between November and March, on dust, distance, family and the north as home.
N7,000
QuillstoneSmall Gods of Ungwan RimiRahila Gambo
Short stories, 2025
Small Gods of Ungwan Rimi
Rahila Gambo
Eleven stories from one Kaduna neighbourhood, where every street has a saint, a rumour and a generator.
N6,500
For writers
We read everything. We reply to everyone.
Many publishers close their doors to writers without agents. We never have. Our submissions window is open all year, and every manuscript is read by a person who loves books.
Start your submission- 01
Send fifty pages
A pitch, a synopsis and your first fifty pages through our form. Free, always.
- 02
A first read
Every submission is read by an editor, not a machine, within six weeks.
- 03
The editorial table
Promising work goes to our Thursday meeting, where we read it aloud.
- 04
A real reply
Yes, no or not yet, with a note on why, within twelve weeks.
The list
Writers we are proud to publish
Hauwa Bello DanladiZaria, author of Indigo at Kofar MataMusa Ibrahim KureKaduna, author of A House on Barnawa CloseChidiebere OkoliEnugu and Kaduna, author of Letters in the Dry SeasonRahila GamboKaduna, author of Small Gods of Ungwan Rimi
All books, authors and quotes on this site are invented for this demo.
The Quillstone First Novel Prize
N2,000,000 and publication for a first novel
Open each January to unpublished novelists living in Nigeria. Free to enter. Judged by writers, booksellers and one reader chosen by lottery from our mailing list.
Prize detailsEntries open in
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Opens 5 January, 9am (example date)
In numbers
Fifteen years of slow, careful books
94books published
1,240+manuscripts read last year (example)
12 wkslongest wait for a reply
7languages our books are translated into
Quillstone took a chance on a sixty year old engineer with no agent. The edit was the best education I ever had.
Their books feel like objects worth keeping. Good paper, good type, and stories I cannot find anywhere else.
Next at the shop
Last Saturday readings
On the last Saturday of each month we open the shop late for a reading, a conversation and zobo. Next: Rahila Gambo reads from Small Gods of Ungwan Rimi.
Reserve a seat
Have a manuscript in a drawer
We read every submission, all year, and reply to every writer. Send us your first fifty pages.