APPLY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH SHORT STORY PRIZE 2024

The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation established by Heads of Government in support of the belief that the Commonwealth is as much an association of peoples as it is of governments.The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is managed by the Commonwealth Foundation, and was set up in 2012 to inspire, develop and connect writers and storytellers across the Commonwealth. 

For the past decade, the Commonwealth short story prize has welcomed, reviewed and awarded some extraordinary and talented writers across the commonwealth. The competition is an annual literary award open to writers from commonwealth countries. It is aimed to promote and celebrate the diversity of voices within the commonwealth and provide a platform for emerging and established writers. The competition typically encouraged submissions of original, unpublished short story on various themes.

The commonwealth short story prize 2023 was won by Jamaican writer Kwame McPherson, for his story Ocoer, about a driver in a Floridian town who is pulled over by the police in an encounter that unravels the history of his home and life. He won out of 6,641 entrants.

The 2024 prize will open for submissions from 1 September 2023 to 1 November 2023. The prize is free to enter and open to any citizen of a commonwealth country aged 18 and over. It is awarded to the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000 – 5000 words). Writers are free to explore any fiction genre – science fiction, speculative fiction, historical fiction, crime, romance, literary fiction.

A shortlist of around twenty stories from which five regional winners are chosen. One of the regional winners is selected as the overall winner who receives $5,000. The regional winners will receive $2500 with their stories published on Granta.

For full details on the entry rules, visit the official website.