Eligibility and entry rules
Please read these eligibility and
entry rules before beginning the online entry process. The online form is
available at www.commonwealthwriters.org from the opening date: 1 September
2021.
Submission of an entry is taken
as acceptance of the entry rules.
For any entry or eligibility
queries not covered below, please email [email protected] for
clarification before submitting an entry.
Opening date
1
September 2021
Entries
must be submitted via the online entry form at:
Closing
date
Entries
must be submitted via the online entry form by 1 November 2021
(11.59pm
in any time zone)
No
entries will be considered if submitted after this date.
1. About the Prize
a.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short
fiction administered and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.
b.
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is run by Commonwealth Writers, the
cultural programme of the Commonwealth Foundation.
c.
The prize covers the Commonwealth regions of 1. Africa, 2. Asia, 3. Canada and
Europe, 4. Caribbean and 5. Pacific. (See Section 5 for countries in each
region).
d.
The international judging panel comprises one judge from each of the five
regions. Please note that while the entries will be judged regionally, all
judges will read and deliberate on entries from all regions.
e.
There will be five winners, one from each region. One regional winner will be
selected as the overall winner. The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short
Story Prize will receive £5,000 and the remaining four regional winners £2,500.
If the winning short story is a translation into English, the translator will
receive additional prize money.
f.
The final selection will be judged by an international judging panel;
experienced readers will assist the named judges in selecting the long list.
2. Eligibility
a.
Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country – please see Section 5 for
the list of Commonwealth countries – or stateless persons currently residing in
a Commonwealth country. The Commonwealth Foundation will request verification
of citizenship status before winners are selected. Entries from citizens of
non-Commonwealth countries are not eligible.
b.
For regional purposes, entries will be judged by country of citizenship. Where
the writer has dual citizenship (of two Commonwealth countries), the entry will
be judged in the region where the writer is permanently resident.
c.
There is no requirement for the writer to have current residence in a
Commonwealth country, providing that they are a citizen of a Commonwealth
country.
d.
Entrants must be aged 18 years or over on 1 November 2021.
e.
All entries will be accepted at the discretion of the Commonwealth Foundation
which will exercise its judgement, in consultation with the prize chair, in
ruling on questions of eligibility. The ruling of the chair on questions of
eligibility is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
f.
Entries from previous overall winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize are
not eligible. Entries from previous regional winners are eligible.
g.
Entries from current members of staff at the Commonwealth Foundation are not
eligible.
h.
Entries must be unpublished and remain unpublished in any language until 1 May
2022.
3. Entry rules
a.
Entries, including those in translation, must be made by the original author.
b.
Entries will only be accepted via the online entry form.
c.
The deadline for receipt of entries is 1 November 2021 (11.59pm in any time
zone).
d.
Only one entry per writer each year may be submitted for the Commonwealth Short
Story Prize.
e.
The story must be the entrant’s own work.
f.
The story must be original work and should not have been published anywhere, in
full or in part, in any language,
before 1 May 2022. Published
work is taken to mean published in any printed, publicly accessible form, e.g.
anthology, magazine, newspaper. It is also taken to mean published online,
except on personal blogs, personal websites and personal Facebook pages.
g.
Entries previously submitted to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize are not
eligible.
h.
Entries should be submitted in English, with the following exceptions: entries
from Commonwealth citizens who write in Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek,
Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil and Turkish and who do not have an
English translation of their story, may submit their stories in the original
language. English translations of short stories written in other languages are
eligible if submitted by the writer (not the translator) and provided that the
translator is also a citizen of a Commonwealth country.
i.
Simultaneous submissions are eligible as long as the entrant informs the
Commonwealth Writers immediately should the story be accepted for publication
elsewhere or be selected for a prize.
j.
Entries must be 2,000 words minimum, 5,000 words maximum (not including title).
k.
Entries should be uploaded in a PDF document. Please save your document as a PDF and use the title of the story as the
file name. Please note that
the story must not be saved as ‘Commonwealth Story’, ‘Short Story’ or any other
generic title. If it is not possible to save the entry as a PDF document, it
may be uploaded as a Microsoft Word document, with the file name in the same
format as above. The first page should include the name of the story and the
number of words.
l.
The author’s details should be included on the entry form. They must not be
given anywhere on the uploaded document. All entries are judged anonymously.
m.
Where applicable, the translator’s details should be included on the entry
form.
n.
All entries should be submitted in Arial 12-point font and double line spacing.
All pages should be numbered and include a header with the title of the story.
o.
There are no restrictions on setting, genre or theme.
p.
The story should be adult fiction and must not have been written for children
alone.
q.
Entrants agree as a condition of entry that the prize organisers may publicise
the fact that a story has been entered or shortlisted for the Prize.
r.
Worldwide copyright of each story remains with the writer. Commonwealth Writers
will have the unrestricted right to publish the winning stories (the overall
winning story and the four regional winning stories) in an anthology and for
promotional purposes.
s.
The shortlisted writers, the regional winners, and the overall winner will be
expected to take part in publicity activities including social media where
possible.
t.
The overall and regional winners may be expected to undertake a mutually acceptable
programme of regional outreach activities to develop and promote Commonwealth
Writers.
4. Contact details
For any questions about eligibility or rules, please contact [email protected]
READ ALSO: Job Vacancies atPlanetHarry Solutions
5. Prize regions
Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, eSwatini,
The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zambia. Overseas Territories: Saint Helena, Tristan Da Cunha, Ascension Island.
Asia: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam,
India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Canada
and Europe: Canada,
Cyprus, Malta, United Kingdom. Overseas Territories: Gibraltar, Falkland
Islands.
Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint
Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago. Overseas
Territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Pacific: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Overseas Territories: Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn.
Please follow the ACER blog for more interesting updates.