15.05.14 | Lisa Campbell - The BooksellerIt is the first time that the prize, run by Commonwealth Writers, has an all-female list of regional winners.
Caldwell's "Killing Time" was selected as a regional winner in the Canada and Europe category. The other regional finalists included Uganda's Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi with "Let's Tell This Story Properly" for Africa, Singapore's Sara Adam Ang, "A Day in the Death" for Asia, Guyana's Maggie Harris, "Sending for Chantal" for the Caribbean and Australia's Lucy Treloar, "The Dog and the Sea" representing the Pacific.
Programme manager Lucy Hannah said: " “For the first time we have an all-female list of regional winners which includes genuinely less heard voices. Thanks to our judges and partners, we are now working to develop and promote these writers across the world."
Commonwealth Writers has partnered with Granta magazine to give the regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to be published by Granta online during the week commencing 9th June, while London-based agents Blake Friedmann will work with selected writers identified through the Prize.
The competition seeks to provide a platform for writers from the 53 countries of the Commonwealth in order to inspire others by bringing "compelling" short stories to a wider audience.
This year 4,000 writers entered unpublished stories to the prize, which was judged by chair Ellah Allfrey, deputy chair of the council of the Caine Prize and others representing the five regions of the Commonwealth; Doreen Baingana (Africa), Michelle de Kretser (Pacific), Marlon James (Caribbean), Courttia Newland (Canada and Europe) and Jeet Thayil (Asia).
The regional winners will compete with each other to become the overall winner, which will be announced in Kampala, Uganda, on 13th June.
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