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The Commonwealth Short Stories 2009

Voices from our world

This CD is the winning selection of short stories chosen from the large number of entries for the 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition.

£5.75 (including postage)


Established in 1996 with funding from the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, the competition is an annual scheme to promote new creative writing. Promoting appreciation and increasing an understanding of Commonwealth cultures, five regional winners are chosen with the winner earning an overall prize of £2,000 and the other regional winners taking £500.

Any Commonwealth citizens are able to enter providing the entry is original, unpublished, in English and no more than 600 words long. From over 4,000 entries an international panel of judges selected the winner. The following were judges:

Tracklisting

CD 1

1. Table Talk by Jennifer Moore*
2. The One-Armed Thief by Kachi A Ozumba*
3. Debbie'sCall by Manasi Subramaniam*
4. Shades by Alake Pilgrim*
5. The Colour of Rain by Terri-Anne Green*
6. Broken Glass by Juliet Barnes
7. Dreams by Ayobami Adebayo
8. LIFO by Akinwumi Akinwale
9. The Father's Blessing by Mbofung Carlang Ndubuisi
10. The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Becky Apteker
11. Light After Death by Soraya Sunitra Kee Xiang Yin
12. The American by Archana Mohan
13. Neer (Water) by Praveena Shivram
14. The Visit by Arjun Sudhir
15. OnGrowing by Abeer Yusria Hoque

CD 2

1. The Seasons by Vanessa Savage
2. All Embracing by Dave Pescod
3. Too Many Legs by Minoli Salgado
4. Hiding in the Cracks by Judith Allnatt
5. Caramel by Princeton Ebanks
6. No News is Good News by Barbara Jenkins
7. Love Story No. 8 - Jane and Phillip by Heidi N Holder
8. Synchronicity by Corinne Pentecost
9. You Can't Miss It by Felicia Johnston
10. Fifteen Minutes of Heart Failure by Adrian Ziino
11. Into the Deep by Lisa Merrifield

* Denotes regional winner (listen to their stories here)

Regional Winners

Jennifer Moore - Overall Winner and Regional Winner for Canada and Europe
Jennifer lives in Devon, England with her husband and children (aged six and nine). She has an English degree from the University of Cambridge and a research Masters degree on witchcraft in English literature from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her short fiction and poetry have been published on both sides of the Atlantic.

Kachi Ozuma - Regional Winner for Africa
Kachi A Ozumba was born in Nigeria and is currently studying for a research degree at the School of English Literature, Newcastle University. His stories have appeared in various journals and anthologies, and have been broadcast on national radio. His debut novel, The Shadow of a Smile, is due out in September 2009 (Alma Books).

Manasi Subramaniam - Regional Winner for Asia
Manasi Subramaniam was born in the late 1980s and suspects that's where she belongs. A writer, a wayward philosopher and a theatre enthusiast armed with an MA in Renaissance Literature, she works at a children's publishing house in Chennai. She loves Shakespeare, the Mahabharata and the Beatles and lives for the written word.

Alake Pilgrim - Regional Winner for the Caribbean
Alake Pilgrim is a young writer from Trinidad and Tobago and former regional winner of the 2004 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. She is current completing an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University where she is writing a feature-length screenplay as part of her final project.

Terri-Anne Green
Terri Green is a physiotherapist working in private practice. She lives on a slice of land wedged between paddocks aned rainforest one hundred kilometres north of Sydney with her husband and two sons. She loves waking up to the sound of frogs in the creek instead of a nagging alarm.

Artwork

The cover art is taken from 'Ta'akimata' (pulled-out eyes) 2008. Graphic image by Semisi Fetokai Potauaine from Tonga, recipient of a 2009 Commonwealth Connections international arts residency organised by the Commonwealth Foundation.