The Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2026 is now accepting applications. Interested candidates can click here to apply and learn more about this opportunity.
About Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026
Opportunity Details
- Date Published: September 01, 2025
- Application Deadline: November 01, 2025
- Category: Entrepreneurs
Grants
The prize is free to enter and open to any citizen of a Commonwealth country aged 18 and over. It is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words).
Submissions should be made via the online entry form, which is available via the link above. The eligibility requirements and entry rules can be found here.
Writers have until 11.59pm GMT on 1 November 2025 to enter their story. Click here to find out what time the prize closes in your timezone.
An international judging panel will select a shortlist of around twenty-five stories, from which five regional winners are chosen. One of the regional winners is then selected as the overall winner, who receives £5,000. The regional winners will receive £2,500. All five regional winning stories will be published on Granta.
Benefits of Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026
There will be five winners,one from each region. one regional winner will be selected as the overall winner.
- One of the regional winners is selected as the overall winner,who receives £5,000. The regional winners willl recieve £2,500.
- All five regiona; winning stories will be published on Granta.
Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026 Requirements
- Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country – please see Section 5 forthe list of Commonwealth countries – or stateless persons currently residing in a Commonwealth country. The Commonwealth Foundation will request verification of citizenship status before winners are selected. Entries from citizens of non-Commonwealth countries are not eligible.
- For regional purposes, entries will be judged by country of citizenship. Where the writer has dual citizenship (of two Commonwealth countries), the entry will be judged in the region where the writer is permanently resident.
- There is no requirement for the writer to have current residence in a Commonwealth country, providing that they are a citizen of a Commonwealth country.
- Entrants must be aged 18 years or over on 1November 2025.
- All entries will be accepted at the discretion of the Commonwealth Foundation which will exercise its judgement, in consultation with the prize chair, in ruling on questions of eligibility. The ruling of the chair on questions of eligibility is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
- Entries from previous overall winners ofthe Commonwealth Short Story Prize are not eligible. Entrants who have won the regional prize three times are also not eligible to submit to the prize.
- Entries from current members of staff at the Commonwealth Foundation are not eligible.
- Entries must be unpublished and remain unpublished in any language until 1 May 2026.
- If your entry has been shortlisted or won a prize in other competitions, provided it has not been published, it is eligible.
Application Date and Process
- Writers have until 11:59pm GMT on 1 November 2025 to enter their story
Application Deadline
01 November, 2025
Scholarship Application Portal
View details of
Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026
Apply for Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026
