Regional shortlists announced for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

The regional shortlists for this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize have been announced.

All four regions have put forward authors to compete for the Best Book and Best First Book awards.

The four regions are: Africa; Canada and the Caribbean; Europe and South Asia; and South-East Asia and South Pacific. Judges chose the shortlists from more than 320 books which were entered between September and December 2007.

In Commonwealth Africa, writers from South Africa received seven nominations across the two categories followed by Nigeria with three and Kenya and The Gambia with one each.

One Jamaican writer and 11 Canadian authors made up the shortlist in the Canada and the Caribbean region. All 12 writers in the South-East Asia and South Pacific region are Australian.

Six British authors were nominated in the Europe and South Asia regional category followed by India with three, Pakistan with two and Bangladesh with one.

“This year entries ranged from major authors, including winners of other distinguished prizes, to promising new writers. Many of the best works combined the sensory with the intellectual, with complex ideas explored through character and narrative,” said Dr Chris Prentice, the South-East Asia and South Pacific regional chair.

“Landscape was a popular theme, while Aboriginal rights and the predicament of refugees were notable social issues. The number of adventurous, imaginative books made the judging of books from this region an enjoyable and exciting task.”

Regional winners for these two awards across the four regions will be announced simultaneously on 13 March during Commonwealth Week.

A cash prize of £10,000 will be awarded to the overall winner in the Best Book category, and £5,000 will be given to the overall Best First Book winner. In addition, each regional winner will receive a £1,000 cash prize.

In a unique aspect of the Prize, all regional winners will be invited to take part in a week-long programme of readings, community activities and other public events alongside the final pan-Commonwealth judging, in South Africa in May 2008.

The week's programme will culminate in the announcement of the overall Best Book and Best First Book winners in a special ceremony as part of the 2008 Franschhoek Literary Festival, in the Cape Winelands District, on 18 May. The final programme is being run in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, South Africa, and the Franschhoek Literary Festival.

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, established in 1987, is organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation across all four regions. The Macquarie Group Foundation is one of Australia's leading philanthropic foundations, contributing A$12.6 million to more than 500 community organisations in the year to 31 March 2007.

The 2007 Best Book award was won by New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones for Mister Pip while the award for overall Best First Book went to Canadian writer D Y Béchard for Vandal Love.

For further information about the Prize and the complete shortlists visit http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/

Related Websites:

• Commonwealth Foundation