The 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which is now open for submissions, will see Malaysian writer Saras Manickam serving as one of the judges alongside four other writers from the Commonwealth region.
Saras’s story My Mother Pattu won the regional prize for Asia in the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Contest. It was published by Penguin Random House (Southeast Asia) and this year, it was recognised by PEN Malaysia as one of the most significant books written by a Malaysian. The story has also been included in Bloomsbury’s The Art and Craft of Asian Stories and in The Best of Malaysian Short Fiction in English 2010-2020.
Saras worked at several jobs while writing her stories. Her various work experiences enabled insights into characters and life experiences, shaping the authenticity that mark her stories.
The 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation, is accepting entries until Nov 1, 2024. Now in its 13th year, the prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words).
Saras, together with the other judges, will select a shortlist of around 20 stories, from which five regional winners are chosen. The five regional winners receive £2,500 (RM14,252) and the overall winner receives £5,000 (RM28,509).
All five regional winning stories will be published in the literary magazine Granta and in a special print collection from Paper + Ink. The shortlisted stories are also published in the Foundation’s online literary magazine Adda.
Though submissions are generally in English, submissions are also accepted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, 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 story who wins (regional or overall) also receives prize money.
The prize has a growing reputation for discovering and elevating new talent and offers a unique opportunity to unpublished writers alongside more established practitioners. Past winners of the prize have gone on to win other literary competitions and secure agents and book deals.
