ANZ writers shortlisted for Commonwealth Short Story Prize

One Australian and two New Zealand writers are among the finalists for the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Australian writer Andrea E Macleod was shortlisted for her story ‘The Art of Waving’, while New Zealand writers Catherine Chidgey and Fiona Sussman were shortlisted for ‘Attention’ and ‘A Breath, a Bunk, a Land, a Sky’, respectively.

MacLeod, Chidgey and Sussman are shortlisted in the Pacific category and are among 20 writers in the running for the prize, which covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Pacific and the Caribbean. The 20 shortlisted stories come from 15 countries and were chosen from 5107 entries from 49 Commonwealth nations. Among this year’s judges is Australian writer and 2012 shortlistee Nic Low.

The regional winners, to be announced on 2 June, will receive £2500 (A$4880) each. The overall winner, to be announced on 7 July, will receive £5000 (A$9760).

Now in its eighth year, the prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction between 2000 and 5000 words. Last year’s overall winner was Cypriot writer Constantia Soteriou, while New Zealand’s Harley Hern was named regional winner for the Pacific.

Pictured: Andrea E Macleod

Category: Awards Local news