The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000 to 5,000 words).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 The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

aged 18 and over. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is managed by

Commonwealth Writers Commonwealth Writers (established in 2011) is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It aims to inspire, develop and connect writers across the Commonwealth. Its flagship is a literary award for short stories, the Commonwealth Sh ...

, the cultural initiative of the

Commonwealth Foundation The Commonwealth Foundation (CF) is an intergovernmental organisation that was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1966, a year after its sister organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Foundation is located at Mar ...

, which was set up in 2012 to inspire, develop and connect writers and storytellers across the Commonwealth. 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 Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

. 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 Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

and focused solely on the Short Story Prize.

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.

Judges

In 2022 the judges were

Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar (born 2 February 1960) is a British-Guyanese poet, novelist, and playwright. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Life Fred D'Aguiar was born in London, England, in 1960 t ...

(Chair), Louise Umutoni-Bower (Judge, African Region) founder of Huza Press,

Jahnavi Barua Jahnavi Barua is an Indian author from Assam. She is the author of 'Next Door', a critically acclaimed collection of short stories set in Assam with insurgency as the background. Barua lives in Bangalore, and obtained her MBBS at Gauhati Medical ...

(Judge, Asian Region),

Stephanos Stephanides Stephanos Stephanides (born 22 October 1949) is a Cypriot-born author, poet, translator, critic, ethnographer, and documentary film maker. In 1957 he moved with his father to the United Kingdom and since then he has lived in several countries f ...

(Judge, Canada and Europe Region), Kevin Jared Hosein (Judge, Caribbean Region) and Jeanine Leane (Judge, Pacific Region).

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Commonwealth Short Story Prize
official site (Commonwealth Writers) Awards established in 2012 Commonwealth Writers awards Short story awards

Commonwealth Foundation

Winners

Judges

See also

References

External links