Regional winners have emerged in the 2015 edition of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the organisers have said.
The contest received up to 4,000 unpublished entries this year from the 53 countries of the Commonwealth’s five regions. Nigeria’s Lesley Nneka Arimah’s short story titled, ‘Light’ emerged from the Africa region. While for Asia, it is Siddhartha Gigoo with ‘The Umbrella Man’ from India and for the Caribbean it is Kevin Jared Hosein of Trinidad and Tobago who got on the list for ‘The King of Settlement 4′. The remaining two regions of Pacific and Canada & Europe Mary Rokonadravu’s ‘Famished Eels’ (Fiji) and Jonathan Tel’s ‘The Human Phonograph’ (United Kingdom), respectively complete the list.
‘We had a strong short-list of stories from around the world that excited the judges and provoked a lively, stimulating set of discussions. The judges were looking for well-crafted stories that were compelling and original. The standards were high. We wanted stories that would engage us and make us rethink our notions of form, language and what mattered. The winning stories did all of that and more. Thank you writers,’ said this year’s Chair, Romesh Gunesekera.
A statement from the organisers said events to celebrate the regional winners will be held in local venues and locations, relevant to the individual authors, across the world, including a Chinese restaurant in London, a book store in New Delhi and a literary centre in Minneapolis, U.S.A.
Also, the regional winners will compete with each other to become the overall winner, which will be announced in London on September 8.
Organised by Commonwealth Writers, it is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. Commonwealth Writers, which believes that well-told stories can help people make sense of events, engage with others and take action to bring about change, was set up in 2012 to inspire, develop and connect writers and storytellers across the world.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 and the Overall Winner receives £5,000. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Translators receive additional prize money.
The international judges reflect the five regions of the Commonwealth. They include: Leila Aboulela, (Africa), Bina Shah (Asia), Marina Endicott (Canada and Europe), Fred D’Aguiar (the Caribbean) and Witi Ihimaera (the Pacific).
