Entries Open for Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025

The search for some of the Commonwealth's best short story writers has begun again. Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over are invited to enter a short story of 2,000 to 5,000 words for a chance to win £5,000.

Category

Awards, Prizes, and Challenges

Award Information

There will be five winners, one from each region of the Commonwealth. One regional winner will be selected as the overall winner. The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £5,000, while the remaining four regional winners will each receive £2,500. If the winning short story is a translation into English, the translator will receive additional prize money.

Eligibility Criteria

To enter the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country. The Commonwealth Foundation will verify citizenship status before winners are selected. Entries from citizens of non-Commonwealth countries are not eligible.
• For regional judging purposes, entries will be judged by the entrant's country of citizenship. In cases of dual citizenship (of two Commonwealth countries), the entry will be judged in the region where the writer is permanently resident.
• There is no requirement for the writer to currently reside in a Commonwealth country, provided that they are a citizen of a Commonwealth country.
• Entrants must be aged 18 years or over as of 1 November 2024.
• All entries will be accepted at the discretion of the Commonwealth Foundation, which will exercise its judgement, in consultation with the prize chair, on questions of eligibility. The chair's ruling on eligibility is final, with no further correspondence entertained.
• Entries from previous overall winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize are not eligible. Entrants who have won the regional prize three times are also not eligible.
• Entries from current members of staff at the Commonwealth Foundation are not eligible.
• Entries must be unpublished and remain unpublished in any language until 1 May 2025.
• If your entry has been shortlisted or won a prize in other competitions, provided it has not been published, it is eligible.

The final selection will be judged by an international judging panel, with experienced readers assisting the named judges in selecting the longlist. The prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean, and Pacific.

For more information, visit Commonwealth Foundation.

Highlights

• Donor Name: Commonwealth Foundation
• Grant Size: £5,000 for the overall winner; £2,500 for regional winners
• Source URL: https://commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/
• Publish Date: 02-Sept-2024 12:00 am
• Deadline Date: 01-Nov-2024 12:00 am