2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Shortlist Announced

• World's most global literature prize shortlists 25 writers from 14 Commonwealth countries.
• The shortlisted writers, 11 men and 14 women, range in age from 25 to 68.
• Pacific shortlist highlights M.S. Bhatia from South Australia and Holly Ann Miller from Kerikeri, Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Judging panel praise ‘excellent' stories involving compelling characters including a fifteen year old girl devastated by her father's disappearance as their village faces flooding, and a farmer in Aotearoa contemplating the family, and the sheep, in her care.
• Selected from almost 8,000 entries, the stories span themes from bereavement and forbidden love to natural disasters and war, told through voices ranging from musicians to migrant workers.

An international panel of judges has shortlisted 25 writers from 14 countries for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, selected from 7,806 entries across 54 Commonwealth countries. Five regional winners, each representing one Commonwealth region, will be announced on Wednesday, 13 May. The overall winner will be announced in late June.

John Edward DeMicoli makes history as the first Maltese writer to be shortlisted. Three writers—Celeste Mohammed, Cosmata Lindie and Ola W. Halim—return to the shortlist, while the remaining writers appear for the first time. Stories originally written in Bengali and Malay have also been selected, reflecting the prize's multilingual reach.

The shortlisted stories span a wide range of subjects, from intimate family relationships and love stories to experiences of migration, natural disaster and the human cost of war. Told through a vivid and varied cast of protagonists—including musicians, athletes, migrant workers and even a stray dog—they move across continents and between rural and urban worlds. Across these settings, the stories explore themes of bereavement, forbidden love, displacement and memory, while reflecting on identity, resilience and the enduring search for belonging.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth's 56 member countries. It is the most accessible and international of all writing competitions: in addition to English, entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish. For 2026, two of the shortlisted stories were submitted in Bengali and Malay. The shortlisted writers, 11 men and 14 women, range in age from 25 to 68.

Chair of the Judges, Award-winning British novelist and dramatist Louise Doughty, said, ‘It was the greatest of privileges to be Chair of Judges for this year's Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Thank you to my fellow judges, thank you to all the team at the Commonwealth Foundation – but thank you most of all to all the writers who entered this year's prize. With so much beautiful writing to consider, and so many examples of excellent prose, our task felt almost impossible. How to compare a lush, descriptive story with elements of magic realism to a sparse and understated account of city life? How to put one story aside with its beautifully drawn characters in favour of another that left us guessing and gasping for more? Ultimately, our choices for the shortlist came down to authors who were not only excellent writers but, we felt, also had a grasp on the unique pleasures of the short story form, how it is a miniature carved in words that holds all the potential of a full-length novel in a few dense brushstrokes. We believe the writers in this shortlist have achieved all that and more, and we are immensely proud of our selection.'

Razmi Farook, Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, the intergovernmental organisation which administers the prize, commended everyone who entered stories in 2026, adding, ‘Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers. Each year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize becomes more competitive, and this year's shortlist reflects the remarkable creativity found across our Commonwealth. My thanks to our judging panel — and especially to our Chair, Louise Doughty — for their thoughtful work, and to everyone who entered the prize. Storytelling continues to play a vital role in opening up alternative narratives and offering space for voices and perspectives that bring depth and context to the pressing issues facing Commonwealth citizens today — helping us better understand one another and imagine a more hopeful, inclusive future.'

The 2026 shortlist in full:

AFRICA

‘Arewa Girls' by Hussani Abdulrahim (Nigeria)

‘New Things' by Oluwatoke Adejoye (Nigeria)

‘Orchard of Blackbirds' by Lois Akoma Antwi (Ghana)

‘Shock Me I Shock You' by Ola W. Halim (Nigeria)

‘The God under the Bed' by Dawn Immanuel (Nigeria)

‘Me and Ma'am' by Lisa-Anne Julien (South Africa)

‘The Runner's Gift' by Ken Odak Odumbe (Kenya)

ASIA

‘Mehendi Nights' by Sharon Aruparayil (India)

‘The Miles Between Us' by Jacqueline Chang (Singapore)

‘Thirty-One Steps' by Rafaa Dalvi (India)

‘Fighting Elsewhere' by Rupsa Dey (India)

‘A Masculine Fest' Anmana Manishita (Bangladesh)

‘The Missing Half' (‘Separuh Yang Hilang') by Mohamed Nasser Mohamed (Malaysia) translated from Malay into English by Pauline Fan

‘No Spark in Mafiz's Relationship' (‘Mofiz - er Relation e Spark Nai') by Shazed Ul Hoq Abir (Bangladesh) translated from Bengali into English by Arunava Sinha and Shabnam Nadiya

CANADA AND EUROPE

‘Saudade' by Alison Armstrong (UK)

‘The Bastion's Shadow' by John Edward DeMicoli (Malta)

‘Chiddingfold' by Jennifer Harvey (UK)

CARIBBEAN

‘Pot Hound Republic' by Roger-Mark De Souza (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘Pom Pom Peedeem Pom' by Jason Dookeran (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘River Mouth' by Jochelle Greaves Siew (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘The Metamorphosis of Miss Alice' by Cosmata Lindie (Guyana)

‘Plenty Time' by Celeste Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘The Serpent in the Grove' by Jamir Nazir (Trinidad and Tobago)

PACIFIC

‘Bitter Water Village' by M.S. Bhatia (Australia)

‘Second Skin' by Holly Ann Miller (New Zealand)

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation.

Five judges drawn from the five regions of the Commonwealth, join Louise Doughty on the panel. They are: South African journalist, author and short story writer Fred Khumalo (Africa); Bangladeshi writer, translator and essayist Rifat Munim Dip (Asia); Padlei Inuk Canadian poet, novelist and scholar Norma Dunning (Canada and Europe); short story writer, novelist and lawyer Sharma Taylor from Jamaica (Caribbean); and poet, illustrator and author Maxine Beneba Clarke from Australia (Pacific).

The 2026 shortlisted stories will be published in the online magazine of the Commonwealth Foundation, adda (addastories.org), which features new writing from around the Commonwealth. The judges will go on to choose a winner for each of the five regions; the regional winners will be announced on Wednesday 13 May before being published online by the literary magazine Granta. The overall winner will be announced in late June.

2026 Timeline

• Wednesday, 13 May: Regional winner announcement
• Late June: Overall winner announced at the Commonwealth Short Story Prize Award Ceremony

Global impact on authors' careers

Winning or being shortlisted for the prize often opens up a wealth of opportunities for the selected writers, propelling them further in their writing careers, with previous winner Kwame McPherson describing its impact as immense. He shares that ‘The win has enabled me to travel the world, sharing my writing and storytelling. And aided me in being placed in front of agents, and has opened up new opportunities in other regions in the world.'

Liswati author and 2022 overall winner, Ntsika Kota, shared: ‘I didn't consider myself as having a writing career beforehand, nor did it occur to me as a realistic possibility. Winning the Prize was itself the genesis of my writing career.'

Tess Little described being shortlisted in 2025 as ‘a marker of quality, and an important step in building my career as a writer and ensuring its longevity.'

2023 Asia winner Agnes Chew from Singapore, writes, ‘The prize has afforded me the affirmation, support and resources that have been crucial to propelling my writing career'. Agnes has since published a short story collection, invited to judge other prizes and is currently working on her debut novel.

About the Commonwealth Short Story Prize

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation. The prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 GBP, and the overall winner receives £5,000 GBP. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.

About the Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its member countries 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.

commonwealthfoundation.com

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