Shachi Kaul is the overall winner of the 2010 Commonwealth Short Story Competition with her entry ‘Retirement’.
There were over 2000 entries into this year’s competition and the international judging panel made their choices based on merit, originality and voice. The 2010 panel comprised New Zealand writer and reviewer Jolisa Gracewood; Nicholas Laughlin, Editor of The Caribbean Review of Books, and a former judge of the Commonwealth Foundation’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; Nigerian author and 2009 Commonwealth Short Story regional winner, Kachi Ozumba; Canadian author and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner Shandi Mitchell; and Indian broadcaster Usha Purie.
Winner
Retirement
Shachi Kaul (India)
Regional Winner Africa
From Dark
Karen Jennings (South Africa)
Regional Winner Canada and Europe
Swallow Dive
Melissa Madore (Canada)
Regional Winner Caribbean
Something from Nothing
Barbara Jenkins (Trinidad and Tobago)
Regional Winner The Pacific
Praise Be
Jena Woodhouse (Australia)
Special Prize – Science, Technology and Society
The First Hello
Anuradha Kumar (India)
Special Prize – Story for Children
Grandma Makes Meatballs
Iona Massey (Australia)
Anietie Isong Special Prize for a Story from Nigeria
Dinner For Three
Shola Olowu-Asante (Nigeria)
Africa Highly Commended
Framing the Nation by Sylvia Schlettwein (Namibia)
Somewhere by Jude Dibia (Nigeria)
Thembi’s Bicycle by Rachel Tucker (South Africa)
Asia Highly Commended
Judgement Day by Farah Ghuznavi (Bangladesh)
Being Reasonable by Sandeep Shete (India)
Vantage Point by Sandrina Abeywardene (Sri Lanka)
Canada and Europe Highly Commended
Education for Life by Anna Lewis (United Kingdom)
Ninth Life by Alison Grove (United Kingdom)
The Perfect Peppersoup by Ken Onyia (United Kingdom)
Caribbean Highly Commended
The Nearly Departed Soul by Rosemarie Johnson Clarke (The Bahamas)
Sister Rose by Lydia Vonwyler (Grenada)
A Whiff of Bleach by Suelin Low Chew Tung (Grenada)
This Place is Not For Sale by Stephen Ralph (Trinidad and Tobago)
Pacific Highly Commended
The Lift by Matthew Gibbs (Australia)
Shades of Dreaming by Benjamin Rodgers (Australia)
The Kettle by Jason James Lees (New Zealand)
The Beast that Came from the Sea by Lani Young (Samoa)