By Prisca Sam-Duru

Nigeria’s Lesley Nneka Arimah has been announced winner of the Africa region of the 2015 edition of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Lesley emerged winner alongside others namely; Asia, Siddhartha Gigoo with ‘The Umbrella Man’ from India and for the Caribbean, Kevin Jared Hosein of Trinidad and Tobago for ‘The King of Settlement 42. for Pacific and Canada & Europe have Mary Rokonadravu’s ‘Famished Eels’ (Fiji) and Jonathan Tel’s ‘The Human Phonograph’ (United Kingdom), respectively.

Lesley-Nneka-Arimah

This year’s contest received up to 4,000 unpublished entries from the 53 countries of the Commonwealth’s five regions. Nigeria’s Lesley Nneka Arimah’s short story titled, ‘Light’ emerged from the Africa region. According to this year’s Chair, Romesh Gunesekera, “We had a strong short-list of stories from around the world that excited the judges and provoked a lively, stimulating set of discussions.

The judges were looking for well-crafted stories that were compelling and original. The standards were high. We wanted stories that would engage us and make us rethink our notions of form, language and what mattered. The winning stories did all of that and more.” The organisers hinted that events to celebrate the regional winners will be held in local venues and locations, relevant to the individual authors, across the world, including a Chinese restaurant in London, a book store in New Delhi and a literary centre in Minneapolis, U.S.A.

Subsequently, the regional winners will compete with each other to become the overall winner, which will be announced in London on September 8. Arimah says the recognition that comes with winning an international award is gratifying. “I was delighted to hear that I’d won the regional prize,” she says. “Writing sometimes feels like yelling into a void and this was the pleasant shock of having a voice shout back ‘I get what you’re doing and I like it!’ Especially with this particular story and it’s wry, tongue-in-cheekiness. It means a lot to me.”

grew up in Nigeria and the UK. She currently resides in the U.S.A. in the state of Minnesota where she spends the winters in hiding, working on a novel and a collection of short stories. “Organised by Commonwealth Writers, it is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. Commonwealth Writers, which believes that well-told stories can help people make sense of events, engage with others and take action to bring about change, was set up in 2012 to inspire, develop and connect writers and storytellers across the world.”

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 and the Overall Winner receives £5,000. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Translators receive additional prize money. The international judges who reflect the five regions of the Commonwealth include: Leila Aboulela, (Africa), Bina Shah (Asia), Marina Endicott (Canada and Europe), Fred D’Aguiar (the Caribbean) and Witi Ihimaera (the Pacific).