Commonwealth Foundation Opens Prize to Self-Publishers

Commonwealth Foundation Prize Now Open To Self-Publishers

The Commonwealth Foundation has made its annual call for entries for their Book Prize and Commonwealth Short Story Prize.  The great news is that they are, for the first time in 2013, opening the prize to translated and self-published books.

This “opens up more opportunities for people in countries with little or no publishing infrastructure and to those who are writing in a language other than English”, said Lucy Hannah, Programme Manager, Commonwealth Foundation.

“This year’s exciting expansion of the Prizes gives even more writers the chance to be heard. It also brings a greater diversity of stories from all parts of the world to Commonwealth Writers’ growing international readership.”

1. Awarded for best first book, the Commonwealth Book Prize is open to writers who have had their first novel (full length  fiction) published between 1 January and 31 December 2012. Regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £10,000.
2. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £1,000 and the overall winner receives £5,000. Commonwealth Writers is delighted to partner with Granta Magazine again this year to give the overall and regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to have their stories edited and published by Granta online.

The aim in opening the prize, said Godfrey Smith, Chair, is to “unite the tributaries of fiction and imagination from diverse corners of the Commonwealth into one powerful, rushing river of new writings, from which the best will be selected, recognized and celebrated.”