The 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is open for entries until 1 November 2025!
The prize is free to enter and open to any citizen of a Commonwealth country aged 18 and over. It is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words).
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Submissions should be made via the online entry form, which is available via the link above. The eligibility requirements and entry rules can be found here.
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When is the Application Deadline:
The deadline for submissions is 1 November 2025, 11:59 PM GMT.
📌 Tell Me About The Award:
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is an annual literary award administered and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation. It recognizes the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) and celebrates diverse voices from across the Commonwealth regions: Africa, Asia, Canada & Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
📌 Which Fields are Eligible?
📖 Unpublished short fiction (any theme, any genre, in English or translated into English).
📌 Type:
🏆 Literary Award / Writing Competition
📌 Who can Apply?
- Citizens of a Commonwealth country (aged 18 and above)
- Stateless persons currently residing in a Commonwealth country
- Writers with dual citizenship will be judged in the region of permanent residence
📌 How are Applicants Selected?
- Entries are judged anonymously by an international panel of writers and literary experts
- A shortlist of around 25 stories is announced
- Five regional winners are selected, one of whom becomes the overall winner
📌 Which Countries Are Eligible?
🌍 All Commonwealth member countries. (See full list in Section 5 of the official rules).
📌 Where will the Award be Taken?
This is an international competition — entries are submitted online and judged globally. Winning stories will be published on Granta.
📌 How Many Awards?
- 5 Regional Winners (one from each Commonwealth region)
- 1 Overall Winner chosen from the regional winners
📌 What is the Benefit of the Award?
- £5,000 cash prize for the overall winner
- £2,500 each for the four other regional winners
- Publication of the winning stories in Granta
- If the winning entry is a translation, the translator also receives prize money
📌 How Long Will the Award Last?
The award is a one-time prize per winning story. Winners also gain global recognition and literary exposure.
📌 How to Apply:
- Prepare your unpublished short story (2,000–5,000 words).
- Save and upload your story as a PDF or Word document, titled with the story’s name.
- Do not include your name in the file (entries are anonymous).
- Submit your entry through the online application form.
🔗 👉 Click HERE to Apply
📧 For inquiries: creatives@commonwealthfoundation.com
Please note that entries are read by real people at every stage of the judging process and not put through an AI system.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I know you’ve received my entry?
If you receive a reference number on the last page of your submission, we will have received your entry. The email acknowledgement can get trapped in spam filters.
We are aware that entrants using Hotmail/Outlook addresses are not receiving automatic confirmation emails. We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. If you use one of these addresses, we will send you a manual confirmation within a week of submission. - I’m having problems submitting, what should I do?
Please try from a different device and/or a different browser, using the direct link to the entry form. - Who is eligible to submit?
The prize is open to all Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over – please see the full list of Commonwealth countries here. - What do the winning writers receive?
The regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives a total of £5,000. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink. The shortlisted stories are published in adda, the online literary magazine of the Commonwealth Foundation.
If the winning short story is a translation into English, the translator will receive an additional prize of £750. - What is the word limit?
The story must be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. - Is there any required theme or genre?
The prize is only open to short fiction, but it can be in any fiction genre–science fiction, speculative fiction, historical fiction, crime, romance, literary fiction–and you may write about any subject you wish. - What languages can I write my story in?
We accept stories written in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, English, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish. Stories that have been translated into English from any language are also accepted and the translator of any winning story receives additional prize money. - Can I enter a story I have previously submitted?
You cannot enter a story you have submitted in previous years. - Can the story be published?
Your submission must be unpublished in any print or online publication, with the exception of personal websites. - How is the prize judged?
Entries are initially assessed by a team of readers and a longlist of 200 entries is put before the international judging panel, comprising a chair and five judges, one from each of the Commonwealth regions – Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. All judges read entries from all regions.
Entries in other languages are assessed by relevant language readers and the best submissions are selected for translation into English to be considered for inclusion on the longlist.
The judging panel select a shortlist of around twenty-five stories, from which five regional winners are chosen, one of which is chosen as the overall winner. - When do submissions open and close ?
Entries open from 1 September – 1 November every year.
The other key dates for the prize are as follows:
April: Shortlist revealed
May: Regional winners announced
June: Award ceremony and overall winner announced - Do you provide feedback on entries?
We now receive close to 8,000 entries each year. Due to the large volume of submissions, please note that we are unable to provide individual feedback on submissions. - Where should questions about submissions be directed to?
If you have any questions about your submission, please email them to creatives@commonwealthfoundation.com. Be sure to include your entry submission number to ensure we can assist you promptly.
