Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First Book prize was awarded from 1989 to 2011. In addition the Commonwealth Short Story Competition was awarded from 1996 to 2011.
Beginning in 2012, Commonwealth Foundation discontinued its previous awards and created a new cultural initiative called Commonwealth Writers, which offered two new awards: the Commonwealth Book Prize for the best first book, in which regional winners received £2,500 and the overall winner received £10,000; and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the best short stories, in which regional winners received £1,000 and the overall winner received £5,000. After two years, the Book Prize was discontinued. The Short Story Prize remains the sole award from Commonwealth Writers.
Commonwealth Short Story Prize
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize, set up in 2012, is awarded annually for a piece of unpublished short fiction. It is open to Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over who have had little or no work published and is particularly aimed at those places with little or no publishing industry.
Commonwealth Book Prize (2012–13) Awarded for best first book, the Commonwealth Book Prize was established in 2012 for writers who were Commonwealth citizens aged 18 or over and who have had their first novel (full-length work of fiction) published in the year of entry. The Commonwealth Book Prize was part of an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation called Commonwealth Writers, which seeks to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth.
Regional winners received £2,500 and the overall winner received £10,000.
The prize was active for two years, 2012 and 2013, and then discontinued.
YearRegionAuthorTitleCountryPublisher 2012 Africa Jacques Strauss The Dubious Salvation of Jack V South Africa Jonathan Cape Asia Shehan Karunatilaka Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep MathewSri Lanka Random House Canada and Europe Riel Nason The Town That Drowned Canada Goose Lane EditionsCaribbean Alecia McKenzieSweetheartJamaica Peepal Tree PressPacificCory TaylorMe and Mr BookerAustraliaThe Text Publishing Company 2013 Africa E. E. Sule Sterile Sky Nigeria Pearson Education AsiaNayomi MunaweeraIsland of a Thousand MirrorsSri LankaPerera-Hussein Publishing House Canada and Europe Lisa O'Donnell The Death of Bees United Kingdom William Heinemann Caribbean Ezekel AlanDisposable PeopleJamaicaself-publishedPacificMichael SalaThe Last ThreadAustraliaAffirm Press
Commonwealth Short Story Competition (1996–2011)
The Commonwealth Short Story Competition was an annual literary award. It was established in 1996 and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation in partnership with the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.
Each year winning stories from different regions of the Commonwealth were recorded and broadcast on radio stations across the Commonwealth. The winner received a prize of £2,000 and there were regional prizes of £500 and highly commended prizes of £100.The Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2008 , CBA, 2008."The Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2009 (United Kingdom)", Seawoman's Caribbean Writing Opps, 18 November 2008.
In 2011, the competition was discontinued.
Year Author Country Title 1996 1997 Dana Gilkes Barbados "Crab Catcher" 1998 Sujam Sankranti India 1999 Cherie Jones Barbados "Bride" 2000 Dennis Nichols Guyana "The Release" 2001 Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming Bahamas "Saving Rupa" 2002 Michael Reckord Jamaica "The Cleaning Class" 2003 Madhulika Liddle India "A Morning Swim" 2004 Otoniya J. Okot Bitek Uganda "Going Home" 2005 Preeta Krishna India "Treason" 2006 Erin Soros Canada "The Moon, the Cat and the Donkey" 2007 Ellen Banda-Aaku Zambia "Sozi's Box" 2008 Julie Curwin Canada "World Backwards" 2009 Jennifer Moore United Kingdom "Table Talk" 2010 Shachi Kaul India "Retirement" 2011 Philip Nash United Kingdom "Rejoinder"
Commonwealth Writers' Prize The Commonwealth Writers' Prize was established in 1987, as a successor to the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Each year, prizes for Best Book (1987–2011) and Best First Book (1989–2011) were awarded in four regions: Africa, Caribbean and Canada, South Asia and Europe and South East Asia and Pacific. Eight regional winners then competed for the pan-Commonwealth Best Book and Best First Book prizes, awarded at a public programme held in a different Commonwealth country each year.
The award was discontinued in 2011, when the Commonwealth Foundation launched a new cultural programme, Commonwealth Writers, which offered the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book (1987–2011)
In the following lists for the Best Book Prize and Best First Book, the overall winners are in bold and in blue background; those not in bold are the winners of the listed regions.