Commonwealth Writers 2022 Short Story Prize for Commonwealth Countries

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) in English written by a citizen of a Commonwealth country. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible, and we invite writers from Mozambique who write in Portuguese, and writers who write in Samoan, Swahili and Bengali, and who do not have an English translation of their story, to submit their stories in the original language.

• Table of Content
• About Commonwealth Writers
• Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize
• Aim and Benefits of Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize
• Requirements for Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Commonwealth Writers

Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. We inspire and connect writers and storytellers across the world, bringing personal stories to a global audience. Commonwealth Writers believes in the transformative power of creative expression in all its forms. We work with local and international partners to identify and deliver a wide range of cultural projects. Our activities take place in Commonwealth countries, but our community is global.... continue reading

Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize

Application Deadline	01 Nov 2021
Type	Contest
Sponsor	Commonwealth Writers
Gender	Men and Women

Aim and Benefits of Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize

Regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000.

Requirements for Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize Qualification

To be eligible for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, candidates must:

• have an unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words)
• be a member of a Commonwealth country
• For regional purposes, entries will be judged by country of citizenship. Where the writer has dual citizenship, the entry will be judged in the region where the writer is permanently resident.
•  must be aged 18 years or over on 1 November 2021.
• There is no requirement for the writer to have current residence in a Commonwealth country, providing she/he is a citizen of a Commonwealth country.

All entries of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will be accepted at the discretion of the Commonwealth Foundation which will exercise its judgement, in consultation with the prize chair as necessary, in ruling on questions of eligibility. The ruling of the chair on questions of eligibility is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Selection Criteria: 

The international judging panel comprises one judge from each of the five regions – Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific. While the entries will be judged regionally, all judges will read and deliberate on entries from all regions.

Application Deadline

November 1, 2021

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Commonwealth Writers on www.commonwealthwriters.org to apply

For more details, visit Commonwealth Writers website.