Commonwealth Writers' Prize Shortlist Announced
26 January 2006
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| A total of 300 entries from around the world were received for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2006. |
In the South-East Asia and South Pacific region, nine of the ten shortlisted entries for Best Book are from Australia. They include Stephen Lacey's 'Sandstone', Robert Drewe's 'Grace' and Sonya Hartnett's 'Surrender'. New Zealander Maurice Gee's 'Blindsight' is the tenth shortlisted entry.
In the Eurasia region, all eight shortlisted authors in the Best Book category are British. John David Morley's 'Journey to the End of the Whale', Caryl Phillip's 'Dancing in the Dark' and Nick Hornby's 'A Long Way Down' made the shortlist. Four authors from Canada are shortlisted in the Canada/Caribbean region, including Jane Urquhart's 'A Map of Glass', Edeet Ravel's 'A Wall of Light', Rabindranath Maharaj's 'A Perfect Pledge' and Lisa Moore's 'Alligator'. Robert Antoni of Trinidad and Tobago is also shortlisted for 'Carnival'.
Four authors from South Africa lead the shortlisted entries from the Africa region. They are J M Coetzee's 'Slow Man', Zakes Mda's 'The Whale Caller', Andre Brink's 'Praying Mantis' and Michiel Heyns' 'The Typewriter's Tale'. Benjamin Kwayke of Ghana is also shortlisted for 'The Sun by Night'.
In the South-East Asia/South Pacific region for the Best First Book category, Australian authors comprise seven out of ten shortlisted entries. They are Ian Townsend, Diane Armstrong, Carolyn Leach-Paholski, Steven Lang, Julienne Van Loon, Carrie Tiffany and Gregory Day. Two New Zealanders, Linda Olsson and Gillian Ransfead, are also shortlisted, as is Malaysia's Tash Aw.
The shortlisted entries in the Best First Book category for the Eurasia region include eight British authors, Donna Daley-Clarke, Grace Joliffe, Nick Laird, Marina Lewycka, Diana Evans, Chris Cleave, Wesley Stace and Helen Oyeyemi. India's Vikas Swarup also made it to the shortlist.
In the Best First Book category for Africa, Uganda's Doreen Baingana, Nigeria's Uzodinma Iweala and South Africa's Angie Hermann have been shortlisted. In the Canada/Caribbean region, Canadians George Clarke, Howard Akler and Jacqueline Honnet, as well as Mark McWatt of Guyana and Marlon James of Jamaica, made the shortlist.
A total of 300 entries from around the world were received for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2006. Dr Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, said: "The annual Commonwealth Writers' Prize confirms the Foundation's ongoing commitment to nurturing and promoting culture in this diverse and vibrant community of nations. The Writers' Prize is a truly unique award not only because it invites entries from authors throughout the Commonwealth, but also because its judges this year are from ten different countries. It is the international focus combined with the high calibre of entries from new and established authors alike that keeps the Prize at the forefront of literary awards."
The regional winners of this year's Commonwealth Writers' Prize will be announced on 6 February, while the overall winners for Best Book and Best First Book will be announced in Melbourne, Australia, on 14 March as part of the cultural festival in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games.
The top prizes are: Overall Winner of Best Book £10,000; Best First Book £3,000; Regional Winners win £1,000 each for Best Book and Best First Book. For more information on the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, visit http://www.commonwealthwriters.com/.
CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 269, 25 January 2006
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