The 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, is open for submissions until November 1, 2020. The competition, acclaimed as one of the most global literary prizes, seeks unheard and unusual stories from writers who are citizens of a Commonwealth country.
According to an announcement published on the website of Commonwealth Writers, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words). Regional winners each receive £2,500 and the opportunity to be published online by Granta magazine, and the overall winner receives £5,000.
What sets this prize apart is the wide range of languages in which submissions can be sent. As well as English, stories written in 11 languages including Bengali, Chinese, French, Tamil and Turkish, are accepted. Translated entries from any language into English are also eligible. If the winning story is a translation, the translator receives additional prize money.
Funded by Commonwealth Foundation, it is free to enter and open to any citizen of a Commonwealth country who is aged 18 and over. The competition covers five Commonwealth regions: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean, and Pacific.
An international judging panel comprising one judge from each region will select five regional winners from the entries. Afterward, one of them will be awarded as the overall winner.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize started in 2012 with the launch of Commonwealth Writers. For the 2020 prize Indian author Kritika Pandey was declared the overall winner for her story, “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes,” while Nafisa A. Iqbal from Bangladesh made the regional shortlist (Asia).
For further information and submission, click here.