ImageNations

Twenty-four outstanding stories have been selected by an international judging panel from 5182 entries from 48 Commonwealth countries. The writers come from 14 countries including, for the first time, Samoa and Ghana. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English from the Commonwealth. As well as being open to entries translated into English from any language, it is the only literary prize in the world where entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, and Tamil. Again, in 2018, we’re delighted that a translated story has reached the shortlist. The inclusion of other languages in the Prize speaks to Commonwealth Writers’ recognition of the need for linguistic diversity to promote the richness of varied literary traditions and lesser-heard narratives. The 24 entries have earned their place on the shortlist - a rich collection of stori es showcasing the skill and talent of the write...

One of the flagship projects of Commonwealth Writers , the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entries, with an international judging panel comprising judges from each of the five Commonwealth regions: Zukiswa Wanner (Africa); Mahesh Rao (Asia); Jacqueline Baker (Canada and Europe), Jacob Ross (Caribbean) and Vilsoni Hereniko (Pacific). The chair of this year’s panel is the novelist Kamila Shamsie, who is the author of six novels, including Burnt Shadows , which has been translated into more than 20 languages and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and A God in Every Stone which was shortlisted for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. “One of the pleasures of short stories is the potential for encountering both breadth and concentrated depth of writing over the space of just a few stories. In the case of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the geographic range of the entrants, as well as the prize's track record of attracting extraordinary wri...

Jonathan Tel from the UK has won the 2015 Commonwealth 2015 Short Story Prize for his story The Human Phonograph. Within its short form, the story encompasses great sweeps of the world and its history – from the US moon landing to Chinese nuclear tests to reading 19th century Russian literature. The protagonist of the story is a lonely figure in this vast world. “The Human Phonograph ranges from the personal to the universal. The resonances remained with the judges, long after the reading. As one said, we were drawn into the lonely world of the protagonist and we stayed there. It is a disconcerting, extraordinary story of an individual in search of independence and reassurance in a difficult world,” said Romesh Gunesekera, Chair of the international panel of judges. The Human Phonograph is published by The Guardian online . Its writer, Jonathan Tel, is himself a polymath with interests as varied as those in his story. A theoretical physicist and opera librettist, he has previously p...

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize announced its 2014 shortlist on April 30 for the different geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean and Pacific. Africa Ikanre by   Adelehin Ijasan (Nigeria) All Them Savages  by   Michelle Sacks (South Africa) Let’s Tell This Story Properly by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda) Asia Grandmother by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow (Singapore) A Day in the Death  by Sara Adam Ang (Singapore) Canada and Europe The Night of Broken Glass by Jack Wang (Canada) On The Other Side by Idrissa Simmonds (Canada) Agnes Agnes Agnes by Luiza Sauma (United Kingdom) Household Gods by Tracy Fells (United Kingdom) Killing Time  by Lucy Caldwell (United Kingdom) Caribbean Cowboy by Helen Klonaris (Bahamas) Sending for Chantal by Maggie Harris (Guyana) Miss Annie Cooks Fish by Charmaine Rousseau (Trinidad and Tobago) Pacific The Dog and the Sea  b...

This year Commonwealth Writers turns its focus solely on the Commonwealth Short Story Prize as a unique award. The short story is an accessible form for writers across the Commonwealth who are able to enter from countries where there is little or no publishing industry, as well as being able to enter stories translated into English. The 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize judging panel will be chaired by Ellah Allfrey, Deputy Chair of the Council of the Caine Prize, and previously Deputy Editor of the Granta  and Senior Editor at Jonathan Cape, Random House. My hope is that writers from across the Commonwealth will be encouraged to send us stories that bring us news of wherever they are, in he wide variety of voices and accents that make up the English language. It would be wonderful to see submissions from bold stylists and stories that experiment with the form as well as more traditional approaches to the short story. The Prize celebrates the power of the short story to...

About the Prize   Commonwealth Writers has re-focused its prizes to concentrate only on the Short Story. It will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is part of  Commonwealth Writers  the cultural initiative from the Commonwealth Foundation . Commonwealth Writers develops the craft of individual writers and builds communities of emerging voices which can influence the decision-making processes affecting their lives. The Prize aims to identify talented writers who will go on to inspire their local communities. There will be five winners, one from each region. One regional winner will be selected as the overall winner. The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £5,000   and the remaining four regional winners £2,500. If the winning short story is a translation into English, the translator will receive additional prize money:  £2,000 for the overall winning story and £1,000 for a reg...