Commonwealth Short Story Prize Writing Contest (2024)

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short fiction administered and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.

The prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa,  Asia, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. The international judging panel comprises one judge from each of the five regions. Please note that while the entries will be judged regionally, all judges will read and deliberate on entries from all regions.

The prize is free to enter and open to any citizen of a Commonwealth country aged 18 and over. It is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words).

WORTH

• The regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives a total of £5,000.
• The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.
• The shortlisted stories are published in adda, the online literary magazine of the Commonwealth Foundation.

ELIGIBILITY

• Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country or stateless persons currently residing in a
  Commonwealth country. The Commonwealth Foundation will request verification of
  citizenship status before winners are selected. Entries from citizens of non-commonwealth countries are not eligible.
• For regional purposes, entries will be judged by country of citizenship. Where the writer
  has dual citizenship (of two Commonwealth countries), the entry will be judged in the
  region where the writer is permanently resident.
• Entrants must be aged 18 years or over on 1 November 2023.
• All entries will be accepted at the discretion of the Commonwealth Foundation which will
  exercise its judgement, in consultation with the prize chair, in ruling on questions of
  eligibility.
• 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 to submit to the prize.
• 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• Entries must be unpublished and remain unpublished in any language until 1 May 2024.
• If your entry has been shortlisted or won a prize in other competitions, provided it has not
  been published, it is eligible.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2023

To apply and for more information, apply here.