Why’s it exciting?
Now in its thirteenth year, this is the world’s most global short story prize. It has developed a strong reputation for
discovering new writers and bringing them to a global audience. Both shortlisted and winning writers go on to find
agents, publishers, attend literary festivals and much more.
Kevin Jared Hosein—the overall winner of the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize—released his first novel for adults in
2023, entitled Hungry Ghosts, which was described as ‘an early contender for the Booker’ by The Times (UK). Sharma Taylor, who has been shortlisted for the prize four times, released her debut novel What a Mother’s Love Don’t Teach You in 2022, while Fijian writer Mary Rokonadravu, winner of the 2022 regional prize for the Pacific, was approached by a
New York literary agency to submit a collection of short stories and has since been published in a wide range of
American Literary magazines. She was also selected forthe Iowa International Writing residency in Autumn 2023.
2020 overall winner Kritika Pandey says, ‘Winning the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2020 has opened doors I had not
imagined possible at this stage of my career.’
What’s the time table?Wednesday 17 April 00.01 hrs BST. The shortlists are announced for 5 regions – Africa; Asia; Canada/Europe; Caribbean;
Pacific.Wednesday 29 May: Regional winner announcementWednesday 26 June: Overall winner announced at the Commonwealth Short Story Prize Award Ceremony