Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2021/2022 Application Update

They 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. They work with local and international partners to identify and deliver a wide range of cultural projects. Their activities take place in Commonwealth countries, but their community is global.

Commonwealth Short Story Prize Eligibility.

1. Entrants must be Commonwealth nationals or stateless people currently resident in a Commonwealth country to be eligible. Before a winner is chosen, the Commonwealth Foundation will request proof of citizenship. Citizens of non-Commonwealth countries are ineligible to enter.
2. Entries will be judged by citizenship country for regional reasons. The entry shall be considered in the region where the writer is permanently resident if the writer has dual citizenship (of two Commonwealth countries).
3. There is no requirement that the writer resides in a Commonwealth country at the time of submission, as long as they are a Commonwealth citizen.
4. Entrants must be aged 18 years or over on November 1, 2021.
5. Entries from former Commonwealth Short Story Prize overall winners are not eligible. Previous regional winners’ entries are eligible.
6. The Commonwealth Foundation does not accept entries from existing employees.
7. Entries must be unpublished and unpublished until May 1, 2022, in any language.
8. Stories can be written in Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, and Turkish, besides English. Entries that have been translated into English from any language are also eligible. The translator receives additional prize money if the winning story is a translation.

Commonwealth Short Story Prize Rules

1. Entries, including those in translation, must be made by the original author.
2. Only one entry per writer may be submitted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
3. The story must be the entrant’s own work.
4. The story must be original work and should not have been published anywhere, in full or in part, in any language, before May 1, 2021. Published work is taken to mean published in any printed, publicly accessible form, e.g. anthology, magazine, newspaper. It is also taken to mean published online, except personal blogs and personal websites.
5. Entries previously submitted to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize are not eligible
6. Entries should be submitted in English, with the following exceptions: entries from Commonwealth citizens who write in Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil and Turkish and who do not have an English translation of their story, may submit their stories in the original language.
English translations of short stories written in other languages are eligible if submitted by the writer (not the translator) and provided that the translator is also a citizen of a Commonwealth country
7. Simultaneous submissions are eligible as long as the entrant informs the Commonwealth Writers immediately should the story be accepted for publication elsewhere or be selected for a prize
8. Entries must be 2,000 words minimum, 5,000 words maximum (not including title)
9. Entries should be uploaded in a PDF document. Please save your document as a PDF and use the title of the story as the file name. Please note that the story must not be saved as ‘Commonwealth Story’, ‘Short Story’ or any other generic title. If it is not possible to save the entry as a PDF document, it may be uploaded as a Microsoft Word document, with the file name in the same format as above. The first page should include the name of the story and the number of words.
10. All entries should be submitted in Arial 12-point font and double line spacing. All pages should be numbered and include a header with the title of the story.
11. There are no restrictions on setting, genre, or theme
12. The story should be adult fiction and must not have been written for children alone.

Prize Benefits

1. There will be five winners, one from each region. One regional winner will be selected as the overall winner. The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £5,000 and the remaining four regional winners £2,500.
2. If the winning short story is translated into English, the translator will receive additional prize money.
Apply Here
If you experience any problems with submission, please email [email protected]
Deadline
November 1st 2021