2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Shortlist Announced

An international panel of judges has shortlisted 25 writers from 14 countries for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, including Holly Ann Miller from New Zealand.

The shortlist was selected from 7,806 entries across 54 Commonwealth countries. Five regional winners, each representing one Commonwealth region, will be announced on Wednesday, 13 May. The overall winner will be announced in late June.

John Edward DeMicoli makes history as the first Maltese writer to be shortlisted. Three writers—Celeste Mohammed, Cosmata Lindie and Ola W. Halim—return to the shortlist, while the remaining writers appear for the first time. Stories originally written in Bengali and Malay have also been selected, reflecting the prize’s multilingual reach.

The shortlisted stories span a wide range of subjects, from intimate family relationships and love stories to experiences of migration, natural disaster and the human cost of war. Told through a vivid and varied cast of protagonists—including musicians, athletes, migrant workers and even a stray dog—they move across continents and between rural and urban worlds. Across these settings, the stories explore themes of bereavement, forbidden love, displacement and memory, while reflecting on identity, resilience and the enduring search for belonging.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 56 member countries. It is the most accessible and international of all writing competitions: in addition to English, entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish. For 2026, two of the shortlisted stories were submitted in Bengali and Malay. The shortlisted writers, 11 men and 14 women, range in age from 25 to 68.

Chair of the Judges, Award-winning British novelist and dramatist Louise Doughty, said, ‘It was the greatest of privileges to be Chair of Judges for this year's Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Thank you to my fellow judges, thank you to all the team at the Commonwealth Foundation – but thank you most of all to all the writers who entered this year's prize. With so much beautiful writing to consider, and so many examples of excellent prose, our task felt almost impossible. How to compare a lush, descriptive story with elements of magic realism to a sparse and understated account of city life? How to put one story aside with its beautifully drawn characters in favour of another that left us guessing and gasping for more? Ultimately, our choices for the shortlist came down to authors who were not only excellent writers but, we felt, also had a grasp on the unique pleasures of the short story form, how it is a miniature carved in words that holds all the potential of a full-length novel in a few dense brushstrokes. We believe the writers in this shortlist have achieved all that and more, and we are immensely proud of our selection.’

Razmi Farook, Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, the intergovernmental organisation which administers the prize, commended everyone who entered stories in 2026, adding, ‘Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers. Each year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize becomes more competitive, and this year’s shortlist reflects the remarkable creativity found across our Commonwealth. My thanks to our judging panel — and especially to our Chair, Louise Doughty — for their thoughtful work, and to everyone who entered the prize. Storytelling continues to play a vital role in opening up alternative narratives and offering space for voices and perspectives that bring depth and context to the pressing issues facing Commonwealth citizens today — helping us better understand one another and imagine a more hopeful, inclusive future.’

‘Bitter Water Village’ by M.S. Bhatia (Australia)

‘Second Skin’ by Holly Ann Miller (New Zealand)

‘Arewa Girls’ by Hussani Abdulrahim (Nigeria)

‘New Things’ by Oluwatoke Adejoye (Nigeria)

‘Orchard of Blackbirds’ by Lois Akoma Antwi (Ghana)

‘Shock Me I Shock You’ by Ola W. Halim (Nigeria)

‘The God under the Bed’ by Dawn Immanuel (Nigeria)

‘Me and Ma'am’ by Lisa-Anne Julien (South Africa)

‘The Runner's Gift’ by Ken Odak Odumbe (Kenya)

‘Mehendi Nights’ by Sharon Aruparayil (India)

‘The Miles Between Us’ by Jacqueline Chang (Singapore)

‘Thirty-One Steps’ by Rafaa Dalvi (India)

‘Fighting Elsewhere’ by Rupsa Dey (India)

‘A Masculine Fest’ Anmana Manishita (Bangladesh)

‘The Missing Half’ (‘Separuh Yang Hilang’) by Mohamed Nasser Mohamed (Malaysia) translated from Malay into English by Pauline Fan

‘No Spark in Mafiz’s Relationship’ (‘Mofiz - er Relation e Spark Nai’) by Shazed Ul Hoq Abir (Bangladesh) translated from Bengali into English by Arunava Sinha and Shabnam Nadiya

‘Saudade’ by Alison Armstrong (UK)

‘The Bastion's Shadow’ by John Edward DeMicoli (Malta)

‘Chiddingfold’ by Jennifer Harvey (UK)

‘Pot Hound Republic’ by Roger-Mark De Souza (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘Pom Pom Peedeem Pom’ by Jason Dookeran (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘River Mouth’ by Jochelle Greaves Siew (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘The Metamorphosis of Miss Alice’ by Cosmata Lindie (Guyana)

‘Plenty Time’ by Celeste Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago)

‘The Serpent in the Grove’ by Jamir Nazir (Trinidad and Tobago)