Twenty-four outstanding stories have been selected by an international judging panel out of 5182 entries from 48 Commonwealth countries. The writers come from 14 countries including, for the first time, Samoa and Ghana. Two Australians and a New Zealander were among those selected.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English from the Commonwealth.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.
Award-winning novelist and short story writer Sarah Hall said of this year’s shortlist: “The versatility and power of the short story is abundantly clear in this shortlist. With such a range of subject, style, language and imagination, it is clear what a culturally important and relevant form it is, facilitating many different creative approaches, many voices and versions of life.”
The 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Shortlist in full:
‘Dancing with Ma’, Harriet Anena (Uganda)
‘Matalasi’, Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa (Samoa)
‘An Elephant in Kingston’, Marcus Bird (Jamaica)
‘Tahiti’, Brendan Bowles (Canada)
‘Ghillie’s Mum’, Lynda Clark (United Kingdom)
‘Goat’, Sally Craythorne (United Kingdom)
‘The Divine Pregnancy in a Twelve-Year-Old Woman’, Sagnik Datta (India)
‘Soundtracker’, Christopher Evans (Canada)
‘Passage’, Kevin Hosein (Trinidad and Tobago)
‘Jyamitik Zadukor’ (The Geometric Wizard) by Imran Khan (Bangladesh)
translated by Arunava Sinha
‘Talk of The Town’, Fred Khumalo (South Africa)
‘Night Fishing’, Karen Kwek (Singapore)
‘Nobody’s Wife’, Chris Mansell (Australia)
‘The Boss’, Breanne Mc Ivor (Trinidad and Tobago)
‘Holding On, Letting Go’, Sandra Norsen (Australia)
‘Empathy,’ Cheryl Ntumy (Ghana)
‘A Girl Called Wednesday’, Kritika Pandey (India)
‘Chicken Boy’, Lynne Robertson (New Zealand)
‘Hitler Hates You’, Michelle Sacks (South Africa)
‘After the Fall’, James Smart (United Kingdom)
‘Son Son’s Birthday’, Sharma Taylor (Jamaica)
‘Berlin Lends a Hand’, Jonathan Tel (United Kingdom)
‘True Happiness’, Efua Traoré (Nigeria)
‘Juju’, Obi Umeozor (Nigeria)
For information on the stories and authors CLICK HERE
