Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Awarded forBest piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000 – 5,000 words)
LocationCommonwealth countries
Presented byCommonwealth Writers
First awarded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Websitewww.commonwealthwriters.org

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000 to 5,000 words). The prize is open to citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations aged 18 and over. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is managed by the Commonwealth Foundation, and was set up in 2012 to inspire, develop and connect writers and storytellers across the Commonwealth.[1][2] The Prize replaced the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, a roughly similar competition that existed from 1996 to 2011 and was discontinued by the Commonwealth Foundation, along with the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.[3]

The Prize is open to writers who have had little or no work published and particularly aimed at those places with little or no publishing industry. The prize aims to bring writing from these countries to the attention of an international audience. The stories need to be in English, but can be translated from other languages.

The overall winner receives £5,000 and the regional winner £2,500. During 2012–13, the regional winner received £1,000. Starting in 2014, the award for regional winners of the Short Story Prize was increased to £2,500. At the same time, Commonwealth Writers discontinued the Commonwealth Book Prize and focused solely on the Short Story Prize.[4]

Commonwealth Foundation

Commonwealth Writers is the cultural programme of the Commonwealth Foundation. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1965, resourced by and reporting to Commonwealth governments, and guided by Commonwealth values and priorities.

Winners

Regional winners and overall winners.

Year Region Author Title Country
2012[5][6] Africa Jekwu Anyaegbuna "Morrison Okoli (1955–2010)" Nigeria
Asia Anushka Jasraj "Radio Story" India
Canada and Europe Andrea Mullaney "The Ghost Marriage" United Kingdom
Caribbean Diana McCaulay "The Dolphin Catcher" Jamaica
Pacific Emma Martin "Two Girls in a Boat" New Zealand
2013[7]
(joint winners) 		Africa Julian Jackson "The New Customers" South Africa
Asia Michael Mendis "The Sarong-Man in the Old House, and an Incubus for a Rainy Night" Sri Lanka
Canada and Europe Eliza Robertson "We Walked On Water" Canada
Caribbean Sharon Millar "The Whale House" Trinidad and Tobago
Pacific Zoë Meager "Things with Faces" New Zealand
2014[8][9] Africa Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi "Let's Tell This Story Properly" Uganda
Asia Sara Adam Ang "A Day in the Death" Singapore
Canada and Europe Lucy Caldwell "Killing Time" United Kingdom
Caribbean Maggie Harris "Sending for Chantal" Guyana
Pacific Lucy Treloar "The Dog and the Sea" Australia
2015[10][11] Africa Lesley Nneka Arimah "Light" Nigeria
Asia Siddhartha Gigoo "The Umbrella Man" India
Canada and Europe Jonathan Tel "The Human Phonograph" United Kingdom
Caribbean Kevin Jared Hosein "The King of Settlement 4" Trinidad and Tobago
Pacific Mary Rokonadravu "Famished Eels" Fiji
2016[12] Africa Faraaz Mahomed "The Pigeon" South Africa
Asia Parashar Kulkarni "Cow and Company" India
Canada and Europe Stephanie Seddon "Eel" United Kingdom
Caribbean Lance Dowrich "Ethelbert and the Free Cheese" Trinidad and Tobago
Pacific Tina Makereti "Black Milk" New Zealand
2017[13] Africa Akwaeke Emezi "Who Is Like God" Nigeria
Asia Anushka Jasraj "Drawing Lessons" India
Canada and Europe Tracy Fells "The Naming of Moths" United Kingdom
Caribbean Ingrid Persaud "The Sweet Sop" Trinidad and Tobago
Pacific Nat Newman "The Death of Margaret Roe" Australia
2018[14] Africa Efua Traoré "True Happiness" Nigeria
Asia Sagnik Datta "The Divine Pregnancy of a Twelve-Year Old Girl" India
Canada and Europe Lynda Clark "Ghillie's Mum" United Kingdom
Caribbean Kevin Jared Hosein "Passage" Trinidad and Tobago
Pacific Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa "Matalasi" Samoa
2019[15][16] Africa Mbozi Haimbe "Madam’s Sister" Zambia
Asia Saras Manickam "My Mother Pattu" Malaysia
Canada and Europe Constantia Soteriou "Death Customs" Cyprus
Caribbean Alexia Tolas "Granma's Porch" Bahamas
Pacific Harley Hern "Screaming" New Zealand
2020[17][18] Africa Innocent Chizaram Ilo "When a Woman Renounces Motherhood" Nigeria
Asia Kritika Pandey "The Great Indian Tee and Snakes" India
Canada and Europe Reyah Martin "Wherever Mister Jensen Went" United Kingdom
Caribbean Brian S. Heap "Mafootoo" Jamaica
Pacific Andrea E. Macleod "The Art of Waving" Australia
2021[19][20] Africa Rémy Ngamije "Granddaughter of the Octopus" Namibia
Asia Kanya D'Almeida "I Cleaned The" Sri Lanka
Canada and Europe Carol Farrelly "Turnstones" United Kingdom
Caribbean Roland Watson-Grant "The Disappearance of Mumma Del" Jamaica
Pacific Katerina Gibson "Fertile Soil" Australia
2022[21][22][23] Africa Ntsika Kota "and the earth drank deep" Eswatini
Asia Sofia Mariah Ma "The Last Diver on Earth" Singapore
Canada and Europe Cecil Browne "A Hat for Lemer" United Kingdom/St Vincent and the Grenadines
Caribbean Diana McCaulay "Bridge over the Yallahs River" Jamaica
Pacific Mary Rokonadravu "The Nightwatch" Fiji
2023[24][25] Africa Hana Gammon "The Undertaker’s Apprentice" South Africa
Asia Agnes Chew "Oceans Away from my Homeland" Singapore
Canada and Europe Rue Baldry "Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things" United Kingdom
Caribbean Kwame McPherson "Ocoee" Jamaica
Pacific Himali McInnes "Kilinochchi" New Zealand

Judges

In 2022 the judges were Fred D'Aguiar (Chair), Louise Umutoni-Bower (Judge, African Region) founder of Huza Press, Jahnavi Barua (Judge, Asian Region), Stephanos Stephanides (Judge, Canada and Europe Region), Kevin Jared Hosein (Judge, Caribbean Region) and Jeanine Leane (Judge, Pacific Region).[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. ^ Foundation, Commonwealth (23 January 2023). "Introducing Commonwealth Foundation Creatives". Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Cassava Republic Press — Commonwealth prizes get face-lift for 25th year". Cassavarepublic.biz. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  4. ^ Tanya Batson-Savage (15 August 2013). "Commonwealth Writers Snuffs the Book Prize: Focus on Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Susumba. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2012: Regional Winners". 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka & New Zealand triumphant in the Commonwealth Writers 2012 prizes". 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Commonwealth Writers announces regional winners for 2013 prizes". Commonwealth Writers. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2014: Regional Winners". Commonwealth Prize. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Jennifer Makumbi, Overall Winner of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Commonwealth Prize. 13 June 2014. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014.
  10. ^ Luca Furio (2 October 2015). "Commonwealth short story prize 2015". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  11. ^ Alison Flood (28 April 2015). "First-time Fijian author scoops award in Commonwealth short story competition". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  12. ^ Luca Furio. "Commonwealth short story prize 2016". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  13. ^ Luca Furio (22 May 2017). "Commonwealth short story prize 2017". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  14. ^ newsamericas (27 July 2018). "Caribbean News - This Caribbean National Wins The 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Caribbean and Latin America Daily News. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  15. ^ "NZ writer Harley Hern named Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winner". Books+Publishing. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Cypriot writer Soteriou wins 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Books+Publishing. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  17. ^ "Macleod wins 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Pacific region". Books+Publishing. 2 June 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Kritika Pandey (MFA '20) Wins 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Office of News & Media Relations | UMass Amherst. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  19. ^ "2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Regional Winners". Commonwealth Writers. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Gibson wins 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Pacific region". Books+Publishing. 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Eswatini writer Kota wins overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Books+Publishing. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Fijian writer Rokonadravu wins Commonwealth Short Story Prize Pacific category". Books+Publishing. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Shortlist". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  24. ^ "McInnes wins 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Pacific category". Books+Publishing. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Jamaican author McPherson wins Commonwealth Short Story Prize". Books+Publishing. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Info". Commonwealth Writers. Retrieved 23 May 2022.

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