The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009
Organised by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation
REGIONAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED TODAY
New Zealand’s Mo Zhi Hong takes Best First Book Prize for South East Asia and the South Pacific
Regional winners for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and Best First Book have been announced today in
London.
Two regional winners for Best Book and Best First Book from each of the four global areas were announced today in
London. These winners then go on to compete for the overall Best Book and Best First Book awards. The four regional
areas are South East Asia and the Pacific; Europe and South Asia; Canada and the Caribbean and Africa.
The winning books represent the best of cutting edge fiction written in the English language and reflect current issues
and subjects affecting our global society. From the social reverberations from hitting a child at a BBQ in a Melbourne
suburban backyard to coping with self-sacrifice and divided family loyalties; from fictionalising the suspicious death
in the 1988 plane crash of the Pakistan dictator General Zia ul-Haq to child trafficking, poverty, homelessness, AIDS,
religious intolerance and genocide on the African continent - this wealth of writing delves into the intimacy of our
lives while reaching out around the globe. It is both a celebration of the craft of writing and beauty of language while
the potency of its subject can inform and extend our world view.