There will no longer be any Commonwealth Book Prize according the decision of the Commonwealth Writers Prize body.

Commonwealth Prizes Update


2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

15 Aug 2013

Commonwealth Writers has re-focused its prizes to concentrate only on the Short Story. It will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is part of Commonwealth Writers, the cultural initiative from the Commonwealth Foundation. Commonwealth Writers develops the craft of individual writers and builds communities of emerging voices which can influence the decision-making processes affecting their lives. The Prize aims to identify talented writers who will go on to inspire their local communities.

The 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize will be chaired by Ellah Allfrey, Deputy Chair of the Council of the Caine Prize and previously Deputy Editor of Granta and Senior Editor at Jonathan Cape, Random House.

The Short Story Prize enables writers to enter from countries where there is little or no publishing industry. Authors writing in languages other than English are also able to enter stories translated into English. The Prize unearths and promotes the best new writing from across the Commonwealth, developing literary connections worldwide.

The Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £2,500 and the Overall Winner will receive £5,000. Translators will receive additional prize money.

The 2014 Short Story Prize will open for entry on 1 October 2013 and close on 30 November 2013. Entry is via the online application form at www.commonwealthwriters.org. The judges, who reflect the five regions of the Commonwealth, will be announced on 1 October.

Shaadey: .

sharp gurl

What is commonwealth?
And why is Nigeria associated with it?
Of what benefit is it to us?

i thank you for the post u just closed a while. i think the earlier you start closing or hidden a nonsensical post with "first to comment" the better it is for those sane and serious nairalanders in our mist.

No time for long talk. Money don finish.simple

I wish they gave the reason they would no longer award prizes for books, but that's still fine. But I wish Commonwealth Writers' Prize panel would stop giving preference to stories that fit the West's stereotypes of Africa when deciding winners from the continent. I mean, check the winning entries of West-organised international literature prizes, the themes are usually woven around poverty, crime, war, corruption etc even when they're not entirely exceptional works.

In God i trust...2014 commonwealth short story prize winner na me. In Jesus name, Amen.

rapsodeep: No time for long talk. Money don finish.simple

It is clear that your opinion is based on tangible ignorance.

This next prize, I pray, will surely benefit me or/and my nairaland Literature Section comrades (shortlist category or the actual prize). Amen!
Baba Orikinla, thanks for the post.
*Time to polish that beautiful story*

mediainspired: I wish they gave the reason they would no longer award prizes for books, but that's still fine. But I wish Commonwealth Writers' Prize panel would stop giving preference to stories that fit the West's stereotypes of Africa when deciding winners from the continent. I mean, check the winning entries of West-organised international literature prizes, the themes are usually woven around poverty, crime, war, corruption etc even when they're not entirely exceptional works.

Do you blame them for the calamities in Africa and how can we pretend and ignore them in our testimonies of these interesting times?

mediainspired: I wish they gave the reason they would no longer award prizes for books, but that's still fine. But I wish Commonwealth Writers' Prize panel would stop giving preference to stories that fit the West's stereotypes of Africa when deciding winners from the continent. I mean, check the winning entries of West-organised international literature prizes, the themes are usually woven around poverty, crime, war, corruption etc even when they're not entirely exceptional works.

Literature should reflect the society, and rightly so! If our society is immersed in abject squalour and corruption, why should literature look the other way? And why should the judges fail to recognize stories that are true to the society they project?

slap1: Literature should reflect the society, and rightly so! If our society is immersed in abject squalour and corruption, why should literature look the other way? And why should the judges fail to recognize stories that are true to the society they project?

That's right.

We should not live in denial.

Art should not necessarily reflect patterns in the society; it's main object is expression. Anything outside that is coercion. Mediainspired raises a good point: a certain kind of writing is expected of the Third World, because the West requires the existence of the 'Other,' to justify, and relate its own progress (that's well documented), just in the same way the pope declared that exploring empires in Europe could forcefully steal from Africa if it could be proven that, 1, the people were not Christians, and, 2, the natives were a race of cannibals. Not hard to prove number one, and number two, only asked the will to fabricate.

The upshot of this expected writing from Africa is that a lot of good writing is never discovered, competent writers get frustrated because no journal wants to publish their stories, even marquee authors often suffer this. The clever writer has to find an exacting balance. This is usually hard to achieve.

Orikinla:

That's right.

We should not live in denial.

Yes, we shouldn't. It hinders progress.

tianshie: Art should not necessarily reflect patterns in the society; it's main object is expression. Anything outside that is coercion. Mediainspired raises a good point: a certain kind of writing is expected of the Third World, because the West requires the existence of the 'Other,' to justify, and relate its own progress (that's well documented), just in the same way the pope declared that exploring empires in Europe could forcefully steal from Africa if it could be proven that, 1, the people were not Christians, and, 2, the natives were a race of cannibals. Not hard to prove number one, and number two, only asked the will to fabricate.

The upshot of this expected writing from Africa is that a lot of good writing is never discovered, competent writers get frustrated because no journal wants to publish their stories, even marquee authors often suffer this. The clever writer has to find an exacting balance. This is usually hard to achieve.

You raised some valid points. However, I do not entirely agree with the part where you seem to imply that books that do not reflect the poverty and backwardness of Africa are not usually recognized. Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, Chika Unigwe's Phoenix; Soyinka's The Interpreters, amongst others, are not exactly testimonies of corruption and the 'gutterness' of Africa. Thank you.

slap1: You raised some valid points. However, I do not entirely agree with the part where you seem to imply that books that do not reflect the poverty and backwardness of Africa are not usually recognized. Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, Chika Unigwe's Phoenix; Soyinka's The Interpreters, amongst others, are not exactly testimonies of corruption and the 'gutterness' of Africa. Thank you.

I do know that Chimamanda shopped "Purple Hibiscus" around to about twenty publishers before it was accepted. Chika and Soyinka were not upstarts when they published those books. Chika had already won the BBC short story competition years earlier, and published "The Phoenix" in dutch before the English. I'm at a coffee shop and the Internet isn't so fast. Could you please google Soyinka yourself?

tianshie:

I do know that Chimamanda shopped "Purple Hibiscus" around to about twenty publishers before it was accepted. Chika and Soyinka were not upstarts when they published those books. Chika had already won the BBC short story competition years earlier, and published "The Phoenix" in dutch before the English. I'm at a coffee shop and the Internet isn't so fast. [s]Could you please google Soyinka yourself?[/s]

The bolded explains it all. You did not isolate upstarts in the previous post I quoted. I understand you better now.

Orikinla:

Do you blame them for the calamities in Africa and how can we pretend and ignore them in our testimonies of these interesting times?

And do you mean there are no writers who portray the positive side of Africans? Why must the award most time go with those that portrays our odd side?

rahamAllah:
And do you mean there are no writers who portray the positive side of Africans? Why must the award most time go with those that portrays our odd side?

because bad news sell faster

rahamAllah:
And do you mean there are no writers who portray the positive side of Africans? Why must the award most time go with those that portrays our odd side?

The irony is that you, as a Nigerian, will mostly criticize your country, like we do on this forum, but you are angry when that criticism is recognized and sanctioned outside the country. Let's face the bitter truth: most Nigerians are not happy with the way the country is run, and when we have an opportunity to give voice and life to these negative feelings, we should make good use of it.