Overall Winner and Regional Winner, Canada and Europe
Rejoinder
Philip Nash, United Kingdom
A ring, a girl and the cold North Sea.
Philip Nash was born in Kent, England, but spent most of the last decade in Shanghai. In 2003 he graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature. At present he is applying finishing touches to a novel, and is determined to transform his fiction-writing from a side-line into a full-blown career.
For me, short stories are like tight-rope walks. Because every word counts, even the tiniest slip can be fatal. 'Rejoinder' was inspired by the coastlines of Kent, where I grew up. Seaside towns in southern England often combine beauty with a sense of deep loss. Winning the Commonwealth Short Story Prize has boosted my confidence no end. Hopefully I'll be able to build on this success, and see more of my work into print.
Regional Winner, Africa
Martha
Basett Buyukah, Kenya
A brave widow's choice.
Basett Buyukah is a Kenyan journalist, broadcaster and media personality. He has reported extensively around Africa, produced news programmes and documentaries and hosted television talkshows. Basett covered the 2008 U.S Presidential Elections. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and French and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications.
I purpose to tap the inspiration gained from this singular and humbling honour as a launchpad and catalyst to write more fiction - both in the short story and novel form - that will positively impact the lives and lot of people right across Africa and globally as well.
Regional Winner, Asia
The Maoist
Nikesh Murali, India
A strong and topical story.
Nikesh Murali's stories, poems and comics have appeared in more than seventy publications. He has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Creative Writing.
I clearly remember being 19 years old and looking at the photos of commonwealth short story prize winners and thinking, I am going to win that one day.
Regional Winner, Caribbean
Head not made for hat alone
Barbara Jenkins, Trinidad and Tobago
In the driving seat.
After a lifetime of teaching in Trinidad and the United Kingdom, Barbara Jenkins now spends her time lazing and reading and visiting her globally scattered children and grandchildren. The letters and textbooks of an earlier writing life have given way to essays, research papers and short stories for the MFA programme she is currently attending at the University of the West Indies.
I wrote the story after a particularly dystopian morning on the road. Everything in the story is real - culled from a number of experiences and observations. So perhaps the writing was a sort of catharsis?
Regional Winner, Pacific
Ginger Beer
Sarah Bainbridge, New Zealand
Gran's homemade fun - a story for children.
Sarah Bainbridge lives in Paekakariki, New Zealand, with her husband and two young children. An echocardiographer by trade, she studied physiology and zoology at Massey University, and has an MA in creative writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters.
I wanted to write a story about home made ginger beer because as a child it seemed the perfect combination of delicious and dangerous, with explosive potential.
Special prize – Women as Agents of Change
The Crystal Snuff Box and the Papadum
Lavanya Arvind, India
A family business is born.
Lavanya Arvind is a former banker and is currently working with a leading private sector insurance company as an underwriter. Writing is her first love and she juggles this with her demanding, fulltime job. Lavanya lives and works in Mumbai and is pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing that is mostly distance mentored. She is halfway through her first novel set in pre-partition India.
Winning the special prize for this year's Commonwealth theme means the world to me! It is a great honour. This year's theme, "Women as agents of change" is particularly close to my heart. My story is a tribute to the new powerful Indian homemaker.
Special prize – Story for Children
The Happiness Dress
Diane Browne, Jamaica
A special present.
Diane Browne is a Jamaican children’s author, published in Jamaica, America and the United Kingdom. She has won awards in Jamaican literary competitions and been recognized with a Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica. Her stories celebrate children’s potential to be the heroes/heroines of their own lives.
Winning this special prize for a short story for children is a singular honour. This acknowledgement of the work of a local writer of children’s fiction gives that writing an international platform. Therefore I hope that this prize will be a catalyst for increased interest and support for the genre, and in this way promote greater access to local/regional children’s books for our children.