The Commonwealth foundation is offering an annual £5,000 prize for citizens of Commonwealth countries aged above 18 for whoever can write the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words). Don’t miss this opportunity as the applications for 2024 are currently open and is totally free to enter. Additionally, winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.
About the host – Commonwealth Foundation
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its Member States to advance the interests of Commonwealth civil society.Upholding a firm commitment to the principles and ideals of the Commonwealth, the Foundation seeks to nurture the growth of vibrant and free societies: championing the active and constructive participation of people in all aspects of governance.
A little about Granta
Granta magazine and the Granta Poetry imprint are owned by Granta Trust, a charity set up in 2019 to promote new and emerging writing. Sigrid Rausing chairs the Trust’s board. Her fellow trustees are the writers George Prochnik and Rana Dasgupta. Granta relies on the support of philanthropic donations from organisations and individuals.
Granta is most celebrated for its ‘Best of Young’ issues, which introduce the most important voices of each generation – in Britain, America, Brazil and Spain – defining the contours of the literary landscape.
Winner’s prize
- The overall winner receives a total of £5,000.
- Regional winners receive £2,500.
- 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.
If the winning short story is a translation into English, the translator will receive an additional prize of £750.
Eligibility
The prize is open to all Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over. Full list of Commonwealth countries can be found in their website
Story requirements:
- The story must be between 2,000 and 5,000 words.
- The story must be fiction of any genre.
Submissions should be made via the online entry form which can be found in their website (linked below).
Selection process
Entries are initially assessed by a team of readers and a longlist of 200 entries is put before the international judging panel, comprising a chair and five judges, one from each of the Commonwealth regions – Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. All judges read entries from all regions. The judging panel select a shortlist of around twenty stories, from which five regional winners are chosen, one of which is chosen as the overall winner.
Application deadline
Submissions will be closed on November 2nd, 2024 – 12pm GMT.
Further details can be found at the Commonwealth foundation short story contest website.
