Jamaica missing from Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist

Twenty-three stories have been shortlisted for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize by an international judging panel, chaired by novelist and 2014 winner, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.

The shortlisted are from 13 countries, including for the first time, Mauritius, Rwanda and St Kitts and Nevis. No Jamaican is shortlisted, this coming after Jamaican Kwame McPherson was last year’s global winner. Of the 23 selected, five are Caribbean writers: three from Trinidad and Tobago, one from Barbados, and the other from St Kitts and Nevis.

“Each of the 23 writers on this year’s shortlist saw off fierce competition from 7,336 other entrants during our busiest year on record. Take note of the names that appear on the shortlist: they are some of the Commonwealth’s most exciting new storytellers and their writing careers are ones to watch,” the Commonwealth Foundation says.

“Many of the stories are told through the eyes of children, tales of parents splitting up, of school, and of the often baffling behaviour of adults around them. Older characters also appear, sometimes destructive, sometimes inspiring. Five of the stories reflect on motherhood in very different ways. Others tell of forbidden love in a hostile world.

Topics range from music, football, art, film, the impact of electricity arriving in a village, and even one woman’s passion for tea. While romance and thrillers feature prominently, nearly a quarter of the shortlisted stories are speculative fiction,which is a sub-genre that freely explores possibility and impossibility alike, and is set in an imaginary world.

The 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist was announced on Wednesday, April 17. It includes: ‘ A River Then the Road’ by Pip Robertson of New Zealand; ‘ Dite’, Reena Usha Rungoo, Mauritius; ‘ Nobody Owns a Fire’, Jennifer Severn, Australia; ‘ Mananangal’, M Donato, New Zealand; ‘ Wrinkle Release’, Stefan Bindley-Taylor, Trinidad and Tobago; ‘So Clean’, Anna Woods, New Zealand; ‘You Had Me at Aloe’, Ark Ramsay, Barbados; ‘ Terre Brulée’, Celeste Mohammed, Trinidad and Tobago; ‘Thambi, Thambi’, Bharath Kumar, India; ‘ Aishwarya Rai’, Sanjana Thakur, India; ‘Mother May I’, Ajay Patri; India ; ‘When Things End’, Sarah Balakrishnan, Canada ; and ‘What Burns’, Julie Bouchard, Canada.

The others are: ‘Your Own Dear, Obedient Daughters’, F. E. Choe, Canada; ‘ Milk’, Eaton Hamilton, Canada; ‘Sookie Woodrow Goes to Heaven’, Ceilidh Michelle, Canada; ‘The Devil’s Son’, Portia Subran, Trinidad and Tobago; ‘Fadi’, Azags Agandaa, Ghana; ‘House No. 49’, Olajide Omojarabi, Nigeria; ‘A Song Sung in Secret’, Jayne Bauling; South Africa; ‘The Goat’, Jean Pierre Nikuze, Rwanda; ‘ The Marriage Proposal’, Heather Archibald, St Kitts and Nevis; and ‘ The Woman Upstairs’, Audrey Tan, Singapore.

TRANSFORMATIVE POWER

Chair of the panel of judges, Ugandan-British novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi says,“This is a dream list for lovers of the short-story form. You’ll be amazed and thrilled, startled and shocked, and heartbroken and humbled in equal measure by the skill and talent, imagination and creativity.”

Dr Anne T. Gallagher AO, director-general of the Commonwealth Foundation, added: ‘The Short Story Prize is legendary for unearthing and nurturing the rich creative talent of our Commonwealth. This year is no exception. My congratulations to the 23 writers whose stories will now secure a truly global audience.’

The next stage is the selection of the regional (Africa, Asia, Canada/Europe, Pacific, Caribbean) winners who will be announced on Wednesday, May 29, before being published online by the literary magazine, Granta. The overall winner will be announced on June 26. The Caribbean regional winners for the previous four years are Jamaicans: the late Brian Heap (2020), Roland Watson-Grant (2021), Diana McCaulay (2022) and Kwame McPherson (2023).Others have been shortlisted.

Started in 2012, The Commonwealth Short Story Prize competition is a cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth. Regional winners each receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000.The 2025 prize will open for submissions on September 1, 2024.

The Foundation says its “mission is to elevate the voices of the people of the Commonwealth so they can shape the world around them”. “We believe in the transformative power of creative expression to provoke debate and move people to act on the important issues of our time, and that’s why we invest in platforms like the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.”