Over two thousand people entered the 2010 Commonwealth Short Story competition, drawn from 44 of the 54 countries which make up the Commonwealth.
The subject matter was rich and varied. Humorous and poignant stories were included along with informative and clever tales and those which inspired and made the reader want more. The entries covered a wide range of topics from marriage, family and death to sport, religion, food, technology, and other issues of concern to people across the Commonwealth. After a long and rigorous judging process, the 25 winning stories emerged.
Overall winner
"Retirement"
Shachi Kaul, India
A daughter’s view of her father’s retirement.
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Shachi Kaul, banker and former hotelier, started writing during a sabbatical from work. Chief among her goals is to tell stories rooted in contemporary India that resonate with people everywhere. Her writing – both prose and poetry – is beginning to appear in thematic anthologies in Asia. She is currently working on her first novel.
Regional winners
Africa
"From Dark"
Karen Jennings, South Africa
The hell and horrors of illegal mining.
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Karen Jennings was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1982. She holds Masters degrees in both English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. In 2009 she won the English section of the Maskew Miller Longman (South Africa) Short Story Competition with her story ‘The Shark’. Karen admires the landscape and people of South Africa and is committed to writing about them.
Canada and Europe
"Swallow Dive"
Melissa Madore, Canada
A moving story of loneliness and death.
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Melissa grew up in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. She studied teaching at the University of Sherbrooke after which she taught in Taiwan for a year. In 2001, she won the ‘concours des dix mots de la francophonie’. She is now living in Cape Town, completing a work of fiction in English as part of the MA creative writing course at the University of Cape Town.
Caribbean
"Something from Nothing"
Barbara Jenkins, Trinidad and Tobago
A sweepstake sensation.
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Barbara has long dreamt of having nothing to do but lie in a hammock on a Caribbean beach and read. Instead, textbook writing and visiting globally scattered children and grandchildren followed a lifetime of teaching. Newly enrolled as an MFA student at University of the West Indies, Trinidad, she has added ‘and write’ to the dream.
Pacific
"Praise Be"
Jena Woodhouse, Australia
A marriage at the crossroads.
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Jena Woodhouse is a poet and fiction writer with several books published, the most recent being a novel, 'Farming Ghosts' (Ginninderra Press 2009). She lives in Queensland, Australia, and holds degrees in Russian language and literature and creative writing. She has been awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship for autumn 2010.
Special Prize: Science, Technology and Society
"The First Hello"
Anuradha Kumar, India
The promise of a village telephone.
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Anuradha Kumar's most recent novel is 'The Dollmakers' Island'. She has written novels and short stories for children as well as for older readers. Her first novel, 'Letter for Paul', appeared in 2006, and she is at present working on a young adult novel. The love of her life is her two and a half year old daughter, Devyani.
Special Prize: Story for Children
"Grandma makes Meatballs"
Iona Massey, Australia
An international food fest.
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Iona lives in Sydney, Australia with her architect husband and three children. The Anglo and Greek family are lovers of food and all things cultural. Iona has studied English Literature and her part-time jobs of English teaching and paediatric nursing support her endeavours in writing. This story is, she says, “In memory of my mother-in-law Konstantina Roumeliotis, who taught me how to make Greek meatballs with egg and lemon sauce.”
Anietie Isong Special Prize for a Story from Nigeria
"Dinner for Three"
Shola Olowu-Asante, Nigeria
A desperate quest.
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Shola Olowu-Asante was born in Nigeria but lives in Edinburgh with her husband and two children. She is a freelance broadcast journalist and has only just begun to try her hand at creative writing. Now she can't stop and is hoping to reinvent herself as a writer of fiction.