Regional shortlist released for 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

One Aotearoa New Zealand writer and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

The works shortlisted for the Pacific region are:

• ‘Bitter Water Village’ by  M.S. Bhatia (Australia)
• ‘Second Skin’ by Holly Ann Miller (New Zealand).

The local writers are among 25 in the running for the prize, which covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa; Asia; Canada and Europe; Caribbean; and Pacific.

Shortlisted writers were chosen from 7806 entries from 54 Commonwealth countries.

Local illustrator and author Maxine Beneba Clarke from Australia was one of the five judges drawn from the five regions of the Commonwealth to join judging panel chair Louise Doughty on the judging panel. The others are South African journalist, author and short story writer Fred Khumalo (Africa); Bangladeshi writer, translator and essayist Rifat Munim Dip (Asia); Padlei Inuk Canadian poet, novelist and scholar Norma Dunning (Canada and Europe); and short story writer, novelist and lawyer Sharma Taylor from Jamaica (Caribbean).

Regional winners of the prize will be announced on 13 May, with the overall winner to be announced in late June.

Last year’s winner was Canadian Vincentian writer Chanel Sutherland for “Descend”.

The shortlisted authors in each region are listed on the prize website.

Category: Awards Local news