The Commonwealth Foundation has given out several prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and had two parts: the Best Book Prize (for overall and regional winners) was given from 1987 to 2011; the Best First Book Prize was given from 1989 to 2011. In addition, the Commonwealth Short Story Competition was given from 1996 to 2011.
In 2012, the Commonwealth Foundation stopped its old awards and started a new program called Commonwealth Writers. This program introduced two new awards: the Commonwealth Book Prize for the best first book, where regional winners received £2,500 and the overall winner received £10,000; and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the best short stories, where regional winners received £1,000 and the overall winner received £5,000. After two years, the Book Prize was stopped. The Short Story Prize is now the only award offered by Commonwealth Writers.
Commonwealth Short Story Prize
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize was created in 2012. It is given every year for a short story that has not been published before. The prize is available to people from the Commonwealth who are 18 or older and have not published much or any work. It is especially for people living in areas where there is not much of a publishing industry.
Commonwealth Book Prize (2012–13)
The Commonwealth Book Prize was created in 2012 to honor the best first book written by someone who is a citizen of the Commonwealth and is 18 years old or older. To enter, the person must have published their first novel (a complete story that is not a short story or play) in the same year they apply. The prize was part of a program called Commonwealth Writers, started by the Commonwealth Foundation, which aims to find, help grow, and share the best new stories from Commonwealth countries.
Regional winners received £2,500, and the overall winner received £10,000. The prize was given out in 2012 and 2013 and was no longer continued after that.
Commonwealth Short Story Competition (1996–2011)
The Commonwealth Short Story Competition was an annual award for short stories. It was created in 1996 and managed by the Commonwealth Foundation along with the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.
Every year, winning stories from different parts of the Commonwealth were recorded and played on radio stations throughout the Commonwealth. The winner received £2,000, and other prizes included £500 for regional winners and £100 for those highly commended.
In 2011, the competition was stopped.
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
The Commonwealth Writers' Prize was created in 1987 as a replacement for the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Each year, from 1987 to 2011, prizes for Best Book and Best First Book were given in four regions: Africa, Caribbean and Canada, South Asia, and Europe and Southeast Asia and Pacific. Eight winners from these regions competed for the pan-Commonwealth Best Book and Best First Book prizes. These final prizes were awarded during a public event held in a different Commonwealth country each year.
The award ended in 2011 when the Commonwealth Foundation started a new cultural program called Commonwealth Writers, which introduced the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
In the lists for the Best Book Prize and Best First Book Prize, the overall winners are shown in bold and with a blue background. Other winners listed are from the specific regions mentioned.