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NZ Makereti named Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winner

New Zealand writer Tina Makereti has been announced as one of five regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her short story ‘Black Milk’.

Makereti’s coming-of-age story won in the Pacific category from a shortlist that included three other Australian and New Zealand writers. The regional prize was judged by author Patrick Holland.

Chair of judges Gillian Slovo said ‘Black Milk’ ‘impressed with a lyricism that takes the reader into another world while keeping us always on earth’.

Winners were also announced in four other regions: South African writer Faraaz Mahomed’s ‘The Pigeon’ won for Africa; Indian writer Parashar Kulkarni’s ‘Cow and Company’ for Asia; UK writer Stephanie Seddon’s ‘Eel’ for Canada and Europe; and ‘Ethelbert and the Free Cheese’ by Lance Dowrich, from Trinidad and Tobago, won for the Caribbean.

Each regional winner will receive £2500 (A$4860) and the overall winner, to be announced on 5 June, will receive an additional £5000 (A$9720).

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction between 2000 and 5000 words.

This year, the prize has partnered with Granta magazine to publish the regional winners online, beginning with Makereti’s ‘Black Milk’ here.

For more information, visit the Commonwealth Writers website.

 

Category: Local news