Deadline: 01-Nov-2025
The search for some of the Commonwealth’s best short stories has begun again. Apply Now!
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026 is an annual award for unpublished short fiction administered and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.
The prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean and Pacific. The international judging panel comprises one judge from each of the five regions. 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. The final selection will be judged by an international judging panel; experienced readers will assist the named judges in selecting the longlist.
Entries open on 1 September 2025 and close on 1 November 2025, with all submissions required via the online entry form. Writers must be citizens of a Commonwealth country, aged 18 or over by the closing date, and entries must be unpublished until at least 1 May 2026. Authors can submit only one entry per year, between 2,000 and 5,000 words, and the work must be original and unpublished in any form. The prize is open to entries in English as well as select languages such as Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Kiswahili, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, and Turkish if no translation is available. Translations are also eligible, provided the translator is a Commonwealth citizen.
All entries will be judged anonymously, and worldwide copyright remains with the writer, though the Commonwealth Foundation retains the right to publish winning stories. Shortlisted writers and winners will participate in publicity activities and may also be asked to contribute to outreach initiatives promoting the Commonwealth Foundation.
For more information, visit Commonwealth Foundation.
