2016 WINNERS OF THE REGIONAL COMMONWEALTH STORY PRIZES RELEASED

The 2016 Prize attracted nearly 4000 entries from 47 countries. After an initial sift by a team of international readers, the global judging panel, representing each of the five regions of the Commonwealth – Helon Habila (Africa), Firdous Azim (Asia),  Pierre Mejlak (Canada and Europe)  Olive Senior (Caribbean), and Patrick Holland (Pacific) – chose the shortlist. From this shortlist, the judges selected the five regional winners below.

Chair, South African novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo, said of the regional winners:

“From Faraaz Mahomed’s ‘The Pigeon’ with its playful tone and unreliable narrator, Parashar Kulkarni’s ‘Cow and Company’, a witty satire that engagingly immerses the reader in its world, and ‘Eel’, a simply told and moving story of childhood by Stefanie Seddon to Lance Dowrich’s comedic ‘Ethelbert and the Free Cheese’ and Tina Makereti’s ‘Black Milk’, which impressed with a lyricism that takes the reader into another world while keeping us always on earth, these were all worthy winners and show how well the short story is flourishing in the Commonwealth.”

The regional winners will now compete to be selected as the Overall Winner of the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, to be announced at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Jamaica on 5 June.

Commonwealth Writers has partnered with Granta magazine to give regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to be published by Granta online. One story will be available to read every Wednesday until 1 June. At the same time, a conversation between the regional judge and the regional winner will be available as a podcast below.

Pacific Regional Winner – ‘Black Milk’ by Tina Makereti (New Zealand)

"It's a wonderful surprise to win the regional prize with this strange little story. It couldn't have existed without Fiona Pardington's photography, which requires us to see in a different way. Good fiction makes us see in a different way also, so it makes me very happy that 'Black Milk' might have achieved that."

Tina Makereti

"The Pacific shortlisted stories evoked a marvellous sense of place – that is, their settings seemed inevitable, essential – and they were gripping tales. ‘Black Milk’ stood out from the pack as an incredibly strange and powerful tale of a culture – at least one phase of that culture – in its twilight."

Patrick Holland, 2016 Judge

Patrick Holland in Australia speaks over Skype to Tina Makereti in New Zealand about her winning story 'Black Milk'.

'Black Milk' will be available to read on Granta shortly.

The Birdwoman came into the world while no one was watching. It was her old people who sent her, the ones who hadn’t chosen to make the transition, who stayed in their feathered forms, beaks sharp enough to make any girl do what her elders told her.
“It’s time,” they said. “They’re ready.”

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Asia Regional Winner – ‘Cow and Company’ by Parashar Kulkarni (India)

"I have been trying to write for many years now and I feel encouraged to continue. I am thankful for the opportunity to share my work with Commonwealth Writers, and with Granta. I am also looking forward to reading new and exciting voices that emerge from this initiative."

Parashar Kulkarni

"The Asian stories were really remarkable, representing a wide array of themes and styles. Humour, which is always a difficult mood to convey in a short span of time, was also one of the hallmarks of the stories from the Asian region. Congratulations are due to Parashar Kulkarni as ‘Cow and Company’ embodies all the best qualities in the stories. It is politically grounded, funny and keeps the reader engrossed as the story twists and turns and shows the connections between culture and commercial interests."

Firdous Azim, 2016 Judge

Parashar's winning story 'Cow and Company' will be available to read on Granta from 11 May.

‘Cow and Company’ is about four men in search of a cow. Eventually they do find one and take her to their office. It is part of a larger project set in colonial India.

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Africa Regional Winner – ‘The Pigeon’ by Faraaz Mahomed (South Africa)

"I am an unseasoned writer, who continues to struggle with the insecurities and anxieties of inexperience. Winning the Commonwealth Prize for the African region is more than an accolade, it's a prompting to continue down this path."

Faraaz Mahomed

"The Africa region included stories on almost every conceivable theme, accentuating the endless complexity and beauty of the continent; a testament to the inexhaustible talent that abounds there. 'The Pigeon' is a carefully and patiently woven tale about love, lust, guilt, and escape. It illustrates just how, as humans, we will always come short of our ideals, and we must learn to live with that."

Helon Habila, 2016 Judge

Faraaz's winning story 'The Pigeon' will be available to read on Granta from 18 May.

The story of a brief and turbulent affair, reflected through the narrator’s close relationship with a peculiar confidant.

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Canada and Europe Regional Winner – ‘Eel’ by Stefanie Seddon (UK)

"'Eel' is a very personal story to me. Its 'rite-of-passage' theme is a universal one, and its setting is the South Island of New Zealand, where I spent the first half of my life. I think you never really lose the view you grow up with, and when you see it through a lens of time and distance, it can be a great source of inspiration for fiction writing."

Stefanie Seddon

"With Hemingway-esque simplicity, ‘Eel’ tells the unforgettable story of a boy on an eel-fishing trip with his friends. It is a story about childhood slowly making way for adulthood through an experience many readers can relate to. It is an exceptional short story, full of insights into life, beautiful imagery and heartfelt emotions, meriting the title of regional best."

Pierre Mejlak, 2016 Judge

Stefanie's winning story 'Eel' will be available to read on Granta from 25 May.

On the West Coast of 1920s New Zealand, a boy battles eels and older brothers on a quest for independence.

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Caribbean Regional Winner – ‘Ethelbert and the Free Cheese’ by Lance Dowrich (Trinidad and Tobago)

"Winning the Regional Prize celebrates the simplicity of laughter that is so commonplace in Caribbean life. As small states we typically look outwards for references including humour. This prize says that not only can we laugh at ourselves but we can allow others to laugh with us. As we laugh we remain confident that we are talented and that we can impact the world."

Lance Dowrich

"Ethelbert and the Free Cheese' captures the carnivalesque spirit of Trinidad street life where a born loser's destiny is everyone's topic. While the tale is rooted in the Caribbean’s strong oral storytelling tradition, the author's command of his material - character, plot, pace and the authenticity of language - leavened with a delicious wit, lifts the story into the pantheon of exuberant comic tales."

Olive Senior, 2016 Judge

Lance's winning story 'Ethelbert and the Free Cheese' will be available to read on Granta from 1 June.

Ethelbert, son of Tantie Lucy, lives in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and has committed himself to his working class job in a deliberate attempt to mask his loneliness and loveless life. In a chance encounter he recognizes the power of cheese to win him love, status and a brand new life.

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