The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is given each year for the best short story that has not been published before. The story must be between 2,000 and 5,000 words long. People who live in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations and are at least 18 years old can enter. The prize is managed by the Commonwealth Foundation and was created in 2012 to support and connect writers across the Commonwealth. It replaced the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, which ran from 1996 to 2011 and was also stopped along with the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
The prize is for writers who have not published much or any work before, especially those from areas with few publishing opportunities. It aims to share stories from these places with people around the world. The stories must be written in English, but they can be translated from other languages.
The person who wins overall gets £5,000, and the regional winner receives £2,500. From 2012 to 2013, the regional winner received £1,000. In 2014, the prize for regional winners was raised to £2,500. At the same time, Commonwealth Writers stopped offering the Commonwealth Book Prize and focused only on the Short Story Prize.
The 2026 Prize caused controversy because some of the selected stories are said to be partly or fully created by artificial intelligence. This includes the short story "The Serpent in the Garden" by Jamir Nazir of Trinidad and Tobago. The director-general of the Commonwealth Foundation made a statement about the situation.
Commonwealth Foundation
Commonwealth Writers is the cultural program of the Commonwealth Foundation. The Commonwealth Foundation is an organization made up of governments from different countries. It was established in 1965 and is supported by and reports to Commonwealth governments. It is guided by the values and priorities of the Commonwealth.
Judges
Each year, the judging panel includes a chair and one representative from each of the five regions that match the prize's regional awards: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
In 2022, the judges included Fred D'Aguiar (Chair), Louise Umutoni-Bower (Africa), Jahnavi Barua (Asia), Stephanos Stephanides (Canada and Europe), Kevin Jared Hosein (Caribbean), and Jeanine Leane (Pacific).
In 2023, the judges included Bilal Tanweer (Chair), Rémy Ngamije (Africa), Ameena Hussein (Asia), Katrina Best (Canada and Europe), Mac Donald Dixon (Caribbean), and Selina Tusitala Marsh (Pacific).
In 2024, the judges included Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Chair), Keletso Mopai (Africa), O Thiam Chin (Asia), Shashi Bhat (Canada and Europe), Richard Georges (Caribbean), and Melissa Lucashenko (Pacific).
In 2026, the judges included Louise Doughty (Chair), Fred Khumalo (Africa), Rifat Munim (Asia), Norma Dunning (Canada and Europe), Sharma Taylor (Caribbean), and Maxine Beneba Clarke (Pacific).