Commonwealth Book Prize discontinued

19.08.13 | Joshua Farrington - The Bookseller

The £10,000 Commonwealth Book Prize will no longer be awarded. The organisation responsible for the prize, Commonwealth Writers, has said that it intends to focus instead on its annual short story prize.
A statement posted on its website stated: "Commonwealth Writers has re-focused its prizes to concentrate on the Short Story. It will no longer offer the Commonwealth Book Prize."

Last year's winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize was Lisa O'Donnell with her book The Death of Bees (William Heinemann). O'Donnell was named the overall winner out of a list of five regional winners in Africa, Asia, Canada & Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

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. The prize is open to works of unpublished short fiction between 2,000 and 5,000 words, with regional winners collecting £2,500 and the overall winner receiving £5,000. It will open for entries on 1st October 2013, and close on 30th November. Judges representing the five areas of the Commonwealth will be announced in October.

Commonwealth Writers said: "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."
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative from development charity The Commonwealth