The 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Do you have a beautiful unpublished short story just waiting to be discovered? Then apply for the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize! Deadline is November 1, 2019.

Last year’s Caribbean winner was Alexia Tolas from the Bahamas for her story “Granma’s Porch.” In 2018, Trinidad’s Kevin Jared Hosein won with his story “Passage.” And have you read “The Dolphin Catcher,” a beautiful story by Jamaica’s Diana McCaulay, the Caribbean regional winner in 2012?

Entrants can submit in 11 languages for the chance to win international recognition and prize money.

Friday 13th September, London, United Kingdom: The 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is accepting entries from 1 September to 1 November 2019. The competition is administered by Commonwealth Writers and is free to enter.

The prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words). The five regional winners receive £2,500 each and the overall winner receives a total of £5,000.

In addition to English, submissions are accepted in Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, and Turkish. Stories that have been translated into English from any language are also accepted.

The prize is open to citizens of all Commonwealth countries and judged by an international panel, representing each of the five regions of the Commonwealth. The judges for the 2020 prize are: Nii Ayikwei Parkes (Chair), Mohale Mashigo (Africa), William Phuan (Asia), Heather O’Neill (Canada and Europe), Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw (Caribbean), and Nic Low (Pacific).

The five regional winning stories are published online by the literary magazine Granta. Past winners of the prize have gone on to win other literary competitions and secure book deals.

The overall winner is announced at a ceremony which is held in a different region of the Commonwealth each year. All the regional winners are invited to attend this special event which provides opportunities to network with other writers and engage the media.

Janet Steel, Programme Manager of Commonwealth Writers, said:

‘The prize is at the heart of all the work we do at Commonwealth Writers. It’s a chance for new voices to shine from around the Commonwealth and be recognised on a global platform.’

Constantia Soteriou from Cyprus won the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. (Photo: Commonwealth Writers)

Constantia Soteriou, Cypriot writer and overall winner of the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, said:

‘I feel honoured and happy to win this amazing prize; it feels like a reward for all the hard work I have been doing over the last eight years, writing about the perspectives of women on the political and historical events of Cyprus.

‘This prize is a recognition for giving voice to those who did not have the chance to be heard before; those who were left behind.’

Those interested in applying can find out more about eligibility, rules, and the submission process at www.commonwealthwriters.org/cssp-2020.

For further information

Please contact Emma D’Costa on e.dcosta@commonwealth.int or +44 (0) 20 7747 6328 or +44 (0) 77 7699 7902.

Notes

1. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is a project of Commonwealth Writers, the cultural programme of the Commonwealth Foundation.

2. Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It inspires and connects 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. It works with local and international partners to identify and deliver a wide range of cultural projects. The activities take place in Commonwealth countries, but its community is global. www.commonwealthwriters.org
3. Commonwealth Foundation is a development organisation with an international remit and reach, uniquely situated at the interface between government and civil society. It develops the capacity of civil society to act together and learn from each other to engage with the institutions that shape people’s lives and to influence public discourse. It strives for more effective, responsive, and accountable governance with civil society participation, which contributes to improved development outcomes. www.commonwealthfoundation.com

The Booker Prize Longlist is Out

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The Booker Prize Longlist was released on July 23, 2019. My first question was: Why has it lost its “Man”?

Well, it’s a question of money. The prize’s sponsor, an investment house called the Man Group, announced in January that it would be withdrawing its funding after eighteen years, leaving just the Booker part – which represents the Booker Prize Foundation’s other UK sponsor, a food wholesaler. Hope Booker doesn’t drop out now.

The Booker Prize has had to rebrand itself. Sigh!

So, don’t be confused. It is now The Booker Prize for Fiction. In 2016 the International Booker Prize was established, for a book translated into English and published in the UK. Now, as of June 1, 2019, the Booker Prize is supported by Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman. However, it’s not going to be called the “Crankstart Booker Prize.” Hmm.

Having cleared that up…The shortlist will be out on September 3, and the winners will be announced on October 14. Who are you betting on? Because it is as much about “who” as it is “what.”

The thirteen Booker Prize Longlist titles, stacked rather like those in my bedroom at home.

So, here is the list of 13, or Booker’s (Baker’s) Dozen:

Margaret Atwood (Canada), The Testaments (Vintage, Chatto & Windus)
Kevin Barry (Ireland), Night Boat to Tangier (Canongate Books)
Oyinkan Braithwaite (UK/Nigeria), My Sister, The Serial Killer (Atlantic Books)
Lucy Ellmann (USA/UK), Ducks, Newburyport (Galley Beggar Press)
Bernardine Evaristo (UK), Girl, Woman, Other (Hamish Hamilton)
John Lanchester (UK), The Wall (Faber & Faber)
Deborah Levy (UK), The Man Who Saw Everything (Hamish Hamilton)
Valeria Luiselli (Mexico/Italy), Lost Children Archive (4^th Estate)
Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria), An Orchestra of Minorities (Little Brown)
Max Porter (UK), Lanny (Faber & Faber)
Salman Rushdie (UK/India), Quichotte (Jonathan Cape)
Elif Shafak (UK/Turkey), 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Viking)
Jeanette Winterson (UK), Frankissstein (Jonathan Cape)

The list was chosen from 151 novels published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019.

So, what do we know about these 13 Booker hopefuls? Two authors have won before, and they are two of my personal favourites: Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid’s Tale, a very slim volume that has morphed into a very long television series); and Salman Rushdie (whose 1998 novel The Satanic Verses sparked a fatwa and numerous death threats for alleged blasphemy). Atwood won the Prize in 2000 for The Blind Assassin and Rushdie in 1981 for his second, powerful novel Midnight’s Children.

Novelist Elif Shafak is currently under investigation by Turkish prosecutors for writing about women’s and children’s rights. (Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

These two might be the favourites, but there are some other interesting titles. Elif Shafak (@Elif_Safak) is an alluring author, activist and political scientist, who was put on trial back in 2006 for “insulting Turkishness” (whatever that means) because of comments made by a character in one of her novels. She’s not too popular with the Erdogan regime, either. The ruthless Turkish leader has banned many thousands of books and shut down 29 publishing houses since the attempted coup there exactly three years ago.

Then there is Valeria Luiselli’s “autofiction” – that is, fictionalized autobiography – on a topical issue, the plight of immigrants from Mexico at the U.S. border. Lost Children Archive has had mixed reviews. Chigozie Obioma’s An Orchestra of Minorities sounds political too, but is more of a mystical story about a Nigerian farmer’s journey spurred by love. It sounds Famished Road-ish and so has been added to The List mentioned below.

Well, this is a little confusing, but the winner of the MAN Booker International Prize 2019 was Jokha Aharthi, an Omani novelist. She shared the prize with her translator, U.S. professor at the University of Oxford Marilyn Booth.

By the way, the International Booker Prize 2019 winner was announced on May 21. It is Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Booth – a story of three sisters and their families, living in Oman. It’s on my “to-read” list (which is terrifyingly long).

The list is enticing, and diverse as usual. I am playing it safe and putting my money on the Canadian. Let’s wait and see who the survivors are on September 3.

The Health and Wellness Minister Has a Book to be Launched!

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Our Health and Wellness Minister is an interesting man. Dr. Christopher Tufton has written a book about politics, which I am looking forward to delving into. Why? Because I always find his views and approach to politics refreshing, clear and practical. I like the way he seems to attack problems and issues head-on. For this he is sometimes criticized, but I understand this approach. I am good at jumping in feet first myself!

With an academic/management background, Dr. Tufton’s political career has had its “ups and downs,” but in his current role I feel he has something that he can really get his teeth into, so to speak. I think he relishes it. Dr. Tufton’s “Jamaica Moves” programme, for example, aimed at curbing obesity and getting us off our butts, has resulted in the Minister himself (and many other Jamaicans) getting enthused about wellness, exercise – and losing a few pounds, too. Please stay tuned for my review of his book on this blog.

Published by Ian Randle Publishers, Dr. Tufton’s book, “State of Mind: Politics, Uncertainty and the Search for the Jamaican Dream,” will be launched on Sunday, July 28, 2019, at 1:00 p.m., at the Institute of Jamaica, 10-12 East Street, Kingston. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to nicoleebanks@yahoo.com.