The 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which closes entries on November 1, 2022 has announced six judges.
According to a statement, “this year’s judges bring a wealth of literary knowledge and writing experience from different backgrounds and cultures. Together, our panel is well placed to appreciate the creative endeavour involved in every story”.
The Chair is Bilal Tanweer, and is joined by Rémy Ngamije, Ameena Hussein, Madeleine Thien, Mac Donald Dixon and Selina Tusitala Marsh.
Tanweer is an award-winning Pakistani writer and translator.
Ngamije is a writer and photographer. In 2021 he made history as the first Namibian to be named African regional winner of the prize.
Hussein is a Sri Lankan author and publisher. She won the 2005 State Literary Prize with Zillij, a collection of short stories.
Thien is a Canadian writer and critic. She has received Canada’s two highest literary honours, the Giller Prize and the Governor-General’s Literary Award for Fiction.
Dixon writes fiction, plays and poetry. In 2005 he was awarded Saint Lucia’s Cultural Development Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Marsh is a performer and author. She was previously New Zealand’s Poet Laureate and a Commonwealth Poet.
The judges, the statement adds, will carefully select a winner from thousands of entrants to the prize and that “the next month is your opportunity to write a short story that wows them”.
Writers who must be citizens of any Commonwealth country and aged 18 and over can submit a story here on or before November 1 for free.
